Health Care Leaders Gather to Address Challenges, Opportunities of Open Health Data at Health Datapalooza 2014

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Health Data Consortium (HDC), a non-profit advocacy and membership organization dedicated to mobilizing health data to transform the U.S. health care system, announced keynote speakers for Health Datapalooza 2014, being held at the Marriott Wardman Park on June 1-3 in Washington, D.C.

Speakers include:

• Steven Brill, CEO and co-founder, Journalism Online LLC and author of TIME Magazine's controversial cover feature "Bitter Pill"
• Jonathan Bush, CEO and co-founder, athenahealth
• Francis Collins, Director, National Institutes of Health
• Elliott Fisher, Director, The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice
• Atul Gawande, Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School and New Yorker contributor
• The Right Honourable Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health, United Kingdom
• Karen Ignagni, President and CEO, America's Health Insurance Plans
• Vinod Khosla, Founder, Khosla Ventures
• Adriana Lukas, Founder/Organiser, London Quantified Self Group
• Todd Park, United States Chief Technology Officer, Office of Science and Technology Policy
• The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Health Datapalooza, now in its fifth year, attracts more than 2,000 innovators, health care industry executives, policymakers, venture capitalists, startups, developers, researchers, providers, consumers and patient advocates interested in increasing access to open health data. In addition to the keynote speakers, the three-day program includes App Demos, breakout sessions and challenge announcements.

"We know that unlocking health data is vital to improving health, health care, affordability and accessibility," said Dwayne Spradlin, Health Data Consortium Chief Executive Officer. "We are at the beginning of a renaissance in health care which will be data-driven, evidence-based, and vastly more productive. We will improve care and research. We will empower patients to make better decisions. The Health Data Consortium hosts Health Datapalooza annually both to celebrate amazing advances and innovations in this field, but also to place the spotlight on all the work that lies ahead in order to make this renaissance a reality."

This year's Code-a-Palooza challenge finalists will convene on June 2 to live-demo their tools for a judging panel. The challenge, a collaboration among HDC, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), required developers to use newly released CMS data to create apps that help consumers improve their health care decision making. The top three teams and winners of the $20,000, $10,000 and $5,000 prizes, respectively, will be announced at Health Datapalooza on June 3.

"Following the Administration's historic efforts to open up health data, we are seeing data power the transformation of the health care system in new and exciting ways," said Todd Park, United States Chief Technology Officer. "We look forward to working with organizations such as the Health Data Consortium to help launch new industries and create jobs."

"We are at an exciting time with unprecedented investments in health care, specifically data-driven technologies," said Bob Kocher, M.D., partner at Venrock. "Nearly half of IPOs in the first quarter of the year were health care companies. Health Datapalooza will feature not only some of these rising stars, but also give us an insider's look at how established health care organizations are adjusting their business models to be successful in a post-ACA market."

Health Datapalooza will also feature 60 apps that showcase the newest tools, technologies and uses of health data. Health Datapalooza attendees can interact with the App Demos through live demos, exhibits and a "Genius Bar." The Health Datapalooza exhibit hall will include more than 60 organizations that are driving innovations in health care through data-fueled solutions.

On June 3, Health Data Consortium will present its annual Health Data Liberators Award to recognize extraordinary contributions to the liberation of health data in order to accelerate its availability and foster the development of innovative health care products and services.

To register for Health Datapalooza 2014 visit www.healthdatapalooza.org. Join the conversation on Twitter with #hdpalooza. Members of the media, please email [email protected] for press credentials.

About the Health Data Consortium
The Health Data Consortium is a collaboration among government, non-profit, and private sector organizations working to foster the availability and innovative use of data to improve health and health care. The Consortium advocates for health data liberation; promotes best practices and information sharing; and works with businesses, entrepreneurs, and academia to help them understand how to use health data to develop new products, services, apps, and research insights. Learn more at www.healthdataconsortium.org or @hdconsortium on Twitter.

CONTACT:
Amanda Guisbond, 617-761-6797
[email protected]

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SOURCE Health Data Consortium