Upstream solutions to poor downstream outcomes

The table below summarizes the evidence supporting a systematic update of the 2008 U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) review on Type 2 diabetes in adults. You can scroll down on the right side of the document to see all the evidence (of varying quality). The actual update was published at the close of 2015. 

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I attend a lot of health policy and health system improvement conferences either in person or by remote access. So far, the focus is far downstream of the trigger. Have you spent time reading about social determinants of health? The data is strongest for prevention. Why is so much money directed "downstream"?

Jeff Iliff is a neuroscientist part of a team discovering the "glymphatic system"...An interesting listen if you ever considered how the brain moves waste across that relatively impermeable blood-brain barrier.

As a nation we watch the documentaries about how food policy impacts our options at the grocery store--and the quality of our health. Let's face it. There can be an argument made for the influence of zip code vs. genetic code as a determinant or correlate of health outcomes in the US. 

​Are you involved with the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)? Today was day 1 of the Improving Healthcare Systems October Advisory Panel. There are many working diligently to improve patient outcomes but a common thread is a lack of high-quality initiatives for funding. Please join the discussions.

How a national food policy could save millions of American lives-- Mark Bittman, Michael Pollan, Ricardo Salvador and Olivier De Schutter

Mark Bittman

Michael Pollan

Ricardo Salvador

Olivier De Schutter

The food system and the diet it’s created have caused incalculable damage to the health of our people and our land, water and air. If a foreign power were to do such harm, we’d regard it as a threat to national security, if not an act of war, and the government would formulate a comprehensive plan and marshal resources to combat it. (The administration even named an Ebola czar to respond to a disease that threatens few Americans.)

​So when hundreds of thousands of annual deaths are preventable — as the deaths from the chronic diseases linked to the modern American way of eating surely are — preventing those needless deaths is a national priority.

Professor Tyrone Hayes discusses hormone disruptors and the downstream health consequences being played out without our consent or awareness.

Maptitude GIS and Mapping software simplifies the integration of population health data into many publically available datasets. Data & Donuts made a choice to invest in integrating population and community level data into disease state analyses. The ability to include Maptitude data in our Tableau Data Visualizations means more data informed insights for our collaborative projects.

​Here are a few mapping examples from the public sphere demonstrating how a focused data strategy can expand the perspective of a story, business objective, or targeted research question. Click image for more details.

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This final example from Vitality Institute describes a landmark study examining a connection between workforce health and the health of the surrounding communities.

What's in your data?

Thoughtful discussions about content development and outcomes analytics that apply the principles and frameworks of health policy and economics to persistent and perplexing health and health care problems...