The seventh annual Health Datapalooza will take place Sunday through Wednesday in Washington, D.C. Here are five things to know about this HHS initiative.
1. Health Datapalooza is an annual conference held by HHS that intends to explore the power of open health data and how it can serve patients.
2. The conference was born out of HHS' Health Data Initiative, the agency's online repository of health datasets that are accessible to entrepreneurs, researchers and policy makers. The goal of the Health Data Initiative is to use the data in such a way to improve health outcomes for everyone.
3. This year's Health Datapalooza will have a special focus on the value data provides healthcare consumers and patients. The conference will have a consumer-focused track, with discussions on how to rate physicians and hospitals, how to help consumers navigate multiple sources of data and how to address consumer privacy concerns.
4. Conference highlights include remarks from Vice President Joe Biden, keynote addresses by HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell and CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt, and the announcement of several award and challenge winners, among others.
5. New this year, interested parties can attend the conference virtually, and people can follow the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #hdpalooza.
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