Written by Mo Farrell, LMSW, manager, Center for Advancing Health Services, Policy & Economics Research
Should medicine be a business like any other? That was the question that Dhruv Khullar, MD, MPP (above right) posed in the beginning of his keynote during the second annual Health Data Bootcamp hosted by the Center for Advancing Health Services, Policy & Economics Research on April 23. Khullar, a national health policy expert, set the stage for the bootcamp’s theme of consolidation and corporatization in the U.S. health care system by exploring ways to reconcile medical and commercial values. He is a physician and an associate professor at Weill Cornell Medical College and contributor to The New Yorker, where he writes about medicine, health care, and politics.
The Health Data Bootcamp was a hybrid in-person/virtual event that drew a diverse audience of over 150 people from universities, health agencies, healthcare entities, and community-based organizations across the country who were interested in learning how to use health system data to impact policy. Attendees were presented with seven lightning talks following the keynote that introduced health and economic datasets:
- Medicare Advantage Plan Data – Presented by Abigail R. Barker, PhD of WashU
- Medicare Encounter Data – Presented by RJ Waken, PhD of WashU
- Regional Commercial Claims Data Warehouse – Presented by Kelci Hannan, PhD, ATC of the Midwest Health Initiative
- AHA Hospital Data – Presented by Sunny C. Lin, PhD, MS of WashU
- Health System Compendium – Presented by Kenton J. Johnston, PhD, MPH of WashU
- Contextualizing Health Care and Storytelling with FRED® Data – Presented by Maria Arias and Diego Mendez-Carbajo, PhD of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
- Restricted Census Microdata – Presented by Seth Carnahan, PhD of WashU
After these brief talks, in-person attendees were invited to participate in interactive breakout sessions with the speakers that allowed for in-depth discussions on specific datasets and how they can be used to answer health policy research questions. These sessions fostered thought partnership and collaborative learning. The bootcamp concluded with a networking lunch, providing attendees with the opportunity to connect with peers and experts in the field. This informal setting encouraged discussions on potential collaborations and the application of insights gained during the bootcamp.
For those who were unable to attend or wish to revisit the materials, recordings and slides from the event are available on our Health Data Bootcamps page. For more information about our center’s work and upcoming events, sign up for our newsletter and check our events page regularly.