Data Collection and Reporting
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation formed the National Commission to Transform Public Health Data Systems in response to the health inequalities and insufficient cross-sector data-sharing capabilities that characterize the American health care system. The 16-member Commission, comprised of experts from the healthcare, community advocacy, business, government, and public health spaces, was tasked with examining the data and data-sharing systems needed to ensure a public health system that is representative of the situations and needs of all Americans. In a report published in 2021, the Commissions put forth a series of recommendations focused on the need to remedy the current disconnect between data on health inequalities and the history and social conditions that shape poor health outcomes to begin with.