CDC Foundation Convening Aims to Accelerate Public Health Data Modernization Through Public Private Partnerships

Event to inform business and partners about opportunities to contribute to public health data modernization

The COVID-19 pandemic and other health threats have shown that access to actionable, timely, accurate and equitably representative health data is critical in preventing and protecting people from disease and health threats. However, governmental public health has traditionally lacked the resources to plug into modern, secure tools to move information faster. Now, there is a national effort to create more integrated and timely public health data systems that can better protect our nation and world from threats. On February 27 and 28, 2023, the CDC Foundation will convene a joint event with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) with the objective to accelerate public health data modernization through public private partnerships.

Addressing health challenges requires bringing together cross-sector groups, and the CDC Foundation’s CDC-ONC Industry Days event will inform non-government organizations about CDC’s and ONC's plans for modernizing public health data and information systems. The event also will provide both virtual and in-person attendees with opportunities to discuss their services with CDC and ONC staff.

“We need collaboration from businesses, health care, academia, community organizations, and all sectors to build an efficient, integrated and comprehensive approach to improving our nation’s public health data,” said Judy Monroe, MD, president and CEO of the CDC Foundation. “These partnerships open new pathways for technology, people and policies to gather and analyze data. The resulting intelligence will improve health and assure thriving and prosperous communities.”

The purpose of this event is to:

• Hear from CDC and ONC leaders about the vision for public health data modernization and the value of multi-sector partnerships;
• Inform industry about CDC’s and ONC's strategic direction in use of data and information systems, and about the highest priority areas in which they are seeking support;
• Provide forums for government and industry to discuss services and priorities (including networking opportunities, exhibits and presentation, and sessions with Q&As);
• Increase opportunities for CDC and ONC to work with and learn from industry; and
• Provide opportunities to hear from industry partners on their compatible capabilities, tools and services.

“COVID-19 emphasized the need to have reliable, actionable data in near real time to ensure the delivery of rapid and equitable health care during a pandemic,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH. “I am committed, as part of the agency’s moving forward initiative, to modernizing CDC’s data systems and am looking forward to hearing from our public- and private-sector partners. We should all have the same goal; ensuring that public health data systems are sufficiently designed to swiftly collect actionable data that informs recommendations to protect all Americans from health threats.”

CDC, as the nation’s primary public health protection organization, assures that public health decision-makers have the information needed for rapid and informed decisions to address health challenges. As the nation's coordinator for improving health IT and data exchange, ONC needs industry input to develop the most effective policies for that improvement. The CDC Foundation is working with these agencies to advance partnerships across diverse sectors to provide the timely, accurate information that can save lives.

“Coordinating across government and private sector to advance the use of Health IT has been a key part of ONC’s mission since inception,” said Micky Tripathi, PhD, MPP, national coordinator for health information technology at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “We are committed to working with CDC, public health agencies at all levels, and industry at large to support the Administration’s goals of modernizing the nation’s public health data infrastructure. We, most importantly, want to ensure that the technology adopted through this effort is scalable, interoperable, and aligned with the technology used in our healthcare system today, and in the future.”

More information about the CDC Foundation’s Industry Days event, including registration for the livestream, is available on the event’s web page.

In addition to the Industry Days event, the CDC Foundation is planning to build on its data modernization focus by establishing a Public Health Protection Data Systems Group, which will be the first group convened under the CDC Foundation’s soon-to-launch President’s Council. The council will leverage the power of multi-sector collaborations in service to partnerships for public purpose, offering insights from across sectors and fields to inform catalytic work to protect the health and prosperity of populations around the globe.

Among the roles of the Public Health Protection Data Systems Group will be providing insights to CDC Foundation leadership and partners on emerging issues, needs and considerations for public health data modernization; serving as councilor to the CDC Foundation leadership team on matters related to improving public health intelligence; and guiding development of high-trust partnership models that transcend sector boundaries and accelerate adoption of scalable data systems that serve the public’s health.

“We are excited about building on the progress of the Industry Days event, including establishing the Public Health Protection Data Systems Group as part of our President’s Council,” Monroe said. “Looking ahead, we will continue to share information about opportunities for government and industry partners to work together to improve our nation’s public health data systems and how we collect, share and act upon data.”

The CDC Foundation’s website includes additional information on the Foundation’s data modernization work as well as resources.