Overview:

As local and state level governmental health departments modernize their health and human services systems and shift business processes towards a Public Health 3.0 future¹, and state and local health leaders will need to consider how to adopt enhanced data analytics, improved surveillance among other novel uses of health information to inform policy making and drive innovative strategies to combat a range of complex local to global health and human services issues. Health departments will need to redefine their business processes to ensure that multi-sectoral collaborations, the use of data, and technological innovations are prioritized and aligned with "smart health" strategies².

The HIMSS Foundation in coordination the HHS Office of the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), and the UK’s NHS Digital has created an exchange program of which the HIMSS Foundation will select up to six health informaticists/data scientists/data strategists working at the state and local public health levels. Each of the selected participants will receive a scholarship to travel to the UK to collaborate with NHS officials and lend analytical insight and identify novel approaches relating to health data science projects that could set the stage successful outcomes in addressing health imperatives and the determinants of health.

The aim of the exchange is to arrange a 10-day, multi-site visit, including two days for travel and time for orientation from the 27th August to the 5th September. The visit will conclude with a presentation at the NHS Expo in Manchester, United Kingdom on the 4th & 5th September.

The visit schedule options for the delegation include the following:

• 3 days at NHS Digital analytical hub in Leeds
• 1 day at the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics
• 2 days preparing findings and presentation
• 2 days at the NHS Expo conference in Manchester

US participants will conclude the trip with a presentation at NHS Expo summarizing ideas, concepts and findings with thoughts on future collaborative work on the themes covered.

We Want to Hear from You!

We're seeking proposals from variety of state, local and territorial projects that address the following themes:

• Learning Health System, including time spent with Primary Care, Secondary Care and Social Care team
• Innovation in national healthcare settings, including Data Access Environments, Data Services Platforms and innovative uses of data
• Opioids, including talking through previous ideas with Jan 18 team and Prescribing team
• Winter Preparedness and the health ramifications of global climate change
• Exploring the reasons for decreased life expectancy in both countries

Exchange Participant Applicants should have the following:

• Detailed understanding of US healthcare system, basic understanding of UK healthcare system would be helpful
• Strong analytical ability, innovative approach to problem solving and gaining insights
• Knowledge about data science and visualization techniques
• Experience using large record-level datasets and analytical software like SQL, SAS & R
• Interest in global healthcare and improving analytical standards in healthcare
• A valid US passport

The Call for Ideas application opens on May 28, 2019.

Learn more on our HIMSS Foundation Proposal page.

To apply, please click HERE. Application deadline is June 17, 2019 at 11:59 PM ET.