Mission

HDC is a collaboration among government, nonprofit, and private-sector organizations working to foster the availability and use of open health data to drive innovations that improve health and healthcare.

HDC’s mission is to liberate health data to ignite innovation and foster collaboration among health data users and stakeholders for the benefit of everyone. It will promote responsible health data use and hasten the movement through advocacy, education, and targeted catalyst programs.

HDC has developed three foundational strategies that will transform the use of health data and accelerate the benefits dramatically:

Consortium History

In 2009, the Obama Administration published the Open Data Directive, followed by related guidelines, research, and websites compiled at Data.gov. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), led by then Chief Technology Officer Todd Park, had been particularly active in promoting open data initiatives — data availability, challenges, codeathons, and events such as Health Datapalooza™ — all falling under the rubric of the “Health Data Initiative.”

Because of the success and promise of the Initiative, Todd and others recognized the value in providing more structure, staffing, and resources to accelerate the availability and use of health data to drive innovations that improve health and healthcare. This expanded, more structured effort became HDC.

In May 2012, HDC ventured forth in its planning stages. Shortly afterwards, it began a regional affiliate program, with an initial group from Colorado, Louisiana, Ohio, Massachusetts, and Washington State. This enterprising group has organized monthly seminars, meetings, and regional events around the country.

HDC is now an established 501(c)(3) public-private partnership based in Washington, D.C. It brings together key health data stakeholders to promote critical public, commercial, and nonprofit sector engagement to build the systemwide reform needed to help the nation tackle the enormous and complex challenge of harnessing health data.

Structure & Governance

HDC’s leadership structure is organized to tap into the expertise of the government, nonprofit, and private-sector organizations — all stakeholders involved in the creation and use of health data.

Board of Directors
The HDC founders envisioned a leadership team that reflects collaboration and cross-sectoral communication. The Board of Directors members span a range of sectors and areas of interest, and each brings rich expertise to HDC.

Advisory Council
The Advisory Council members give their time and insight on a range of issues, including prioritizing activities, the formal structure of HDC, and more.
 
Membership Committee
HDC is supported by a membership committee that promotes involvement by government, nonprofit, and private-sector organizations, including innovators, data providers, advocates, developers, and others.
 
Health Datapalooza Steering Committee
The Health Datapalooza Steering Committee serves to guide the strategy and direction of the conference, providing expertise from for-profit, government, and academic settings.
 
Policy Committee
The HDC Policy Committee brings together a number of key stakeholders in government, nonprofit, and the private sector to work with lawmakers and agencies at the federal, state, and local levels to promote policies that accelerate the availability and use of health data.

Financing

HDC is financed by membership fees from organizational and individual memberships.

Links/Social Media Feed

Points of Contact

Health Data Consortium
1150 17th Street, NW
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
phone: 202-888-1740
email: policy@healthdataconsortium.org
 
Members of the HDC Policy and Government Affairs team include:
 
Lauren Ellis Riplinger, J.D.
Director of Policy & Government Affairs
phone: 202-292-6784
email: lellis@healthdataconsortium.org

Sponsors & Partners