Find Resources

The nonprofit Center for Open Data Enterprise and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) convened the Roundtable on Sharing and Utilizing Health Data for AI Applications in 2019. These discussions identified five high-level applications of AI in healthcare. First, AI automation tools can be utilized to improve clinician and administrative workflows and reduce the costs and administrative burden of manual data entry and billing processes. AI is also a valuable tool that can be used to connect patients with available health and social service resources, especially in rural areas. Researchers can use AI to inform and advance population health management by synthesizing data to tell clearer stories about the prevalence and incidence of different diseases. AI has the potential to be a revolutionary tool in the medical diagnosis space. Lastly, AI can aid in the development of new drugs throughout the entire cycle, from matching clinical trial participants to appropriate trials to contributing to precision medicine research. Importantly, the report emphasizes the dependence of all these promising AI applications on the widespread sharing of high-quality, clean, and accurate data.

This model program, called Project ECHO, leverages technology to share knowledge across a wide network of disease-specific consultants and rural healthcare teams. In regular virtual meetings program participants learn from and alongside each other while also providing direct patient care, with the ultimate goal of  gaining crucial knowledge on how to assess and treat common medical conditions with complex treatment plans. The pilot program, run by Dr. Sanjeev Arora in his liver clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico, saw the hepatitis C clinic wait list decrease from 8 months to 2 weeks, proving the efficacy of this innovative “telementoring” approach to tackling medical management knowledge gaps in rural and underserved areas. In 2016 Congress passed the “ECHO Act,” enriching Project ECHO as a national model for Health care collaboration in rural and underserved areas.

The article evaluates the connection between health care workers’ unions and Covid-19 mortality rates in nursing homes. Using regression analysis, the presence of a union were associated with lower Covid-19 mortality rates (30% lower) and infection rates (42% lower) among nursing home residents. Nursing homes with unions saw increased access to N95 respirators and eye shields as well. These results ultimately show that health care worker unionization may better ensure access to appropriate PPE and infection control policies that will protect nursing home residents.

New York City’s Test & Trace Corps worked to reduce Covid-19 testing inequities by developing a mobile testing program focused on communities disproportionately affected by Covid-19. The model engaged community partners to determine the best methods of outreach and utilized multiple testing strategies. Based on the whether and community needs, free testing was offered outdoors, from vehicles, or at community spaces. Testing was both clinician-administered and patient-administered. Community organizations and organizers facilitated outreach to residents in their neighborhoods. The practice was successful in increasing access to testing, contact tracing, and isolation/aftercare support in these communities.

This resource presents closing down portions of major streets to give people more space to walk or cycle safely during the COVID-19 pandemic as a health promotion strategy. Evaluators found that Toronto residents supported and utilized the closures, helping them become more active and introducing more diverse populations to cycling. There was high support for continued road closures even after the pandemic, with very few issues surrounding the closures.

This article examines the effects of pandemic-related eviction moratoria on household spending, food insecurity, and mental stress. The authors found that eviction moratoria reduced food insecurity and mental stress (as reported in the Census Household Pulse Survey), particularly among African American households. Results were corroborated using search query data from Google.

This evaluation report described the Pima County Housing First Initiative pilot phase, which provided permanent supportive housing and case management to justice-involved individuals experiencing homelessness in Pima County, Arizona. Justice-related service utilization and health care costs declined for program participants enrolled in the program for 12 months or more, offsetting the program costs. However, additional analysis is needed to determine whether there is a causal relationship between program enrollment and reduction in service utilization.

This case study presents findings on place-based initiatives to address social determinants of health and health inequities through the Action Centers in New York City. The Action Centers, hosted by the Health Department, are a way to address community-level social determinants of health by providing low-cost office space to partner organizations and free convening space for events, meetings, and programs. This ultimately increases community members’ access to services, beyond what the Health Department or individual organizations can offer.

This study of a community-based and bilingual nutrition and health program called the Eat Healthy Program in New York City presents findings to understand potential behavior changes among participants and how the program is integrated into a larger neighborhood health strategy in Harlem. The Eat Healthy Program educated participants on healthy nutrition and living, gave out farmers’ market coupons. Focus groups showed that participants adopted new healthy behaviors as a result, although some barriers to healthy living persisted. The findings suggested that this type of health promotion program as a part of a neighborhood health strategy may be an effective model for impacting health behavior and the utilization of local farmers’ markets in low income neighborhoods of color.