Data Impact Challenge II Participants Dig Deep into Data Sets to Answer Pressing Health Care Questions

(Toronto) – Six teams of clinicians, academics, researchers, epidemiologists and data analysts who relied on existing Canadian data sets to find answers to pressing health care questions will receive their share of awards available as the Data Impact Challenge II draws to a close.

The first Data Impact Challenge demonstrated that data sets can be analysed to quickly inform decision making. Based on its success, the Data Impact Challenge II was launched in November 2015 and was rolled out in three stages:

  1. Question Submission: All Canadians were invited to submit questions to be included in the Data Impact Challenge II.
  2. Voting: Canadians were invited to vote on the questions they wanted answered.
  3. Answer Submission: Teams were invited to analyze their data to answer the questions.

“The Data Impact Challenge II encouraged teams to dig through data sets which hold valuable answers to questions related to Canadian health care,” said Shelagh Maloney, Vice President, Canada Health Infoway. “The Challenge shows us that the answers we seek can be obtained if we use the sources of information that already exist.”

Participating teams answered difficult and important questions spanning various topics such as:

  • What proportion of acute opioid users become chronic users?
  • What proportion of Canadian youth post to social media about their mental health?
  • To what extent do re-prescribing and re-dispensing culprit drugs contribute to the burden of adverse drug events?

To view all Data Challenge II questions, visit, http://imaginenationchallenge.ca/data-impact-ii-challenge-questions/

Congratulations to the following teams:

Best Answer Awards - $10,000 each

  • Team Bugs, Toronto
  • CASPAR (Consortium of Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs Against Resistance), Toronto
  • Ontario Opioid Investigators, Toronto
  • ICES Western, London
  • MOXXI-McGill, Montreal
  • SAS, Toronto

Judges Choice - $10,000

  • ICES Western, London

Speed Bonus - $5,000

  • Team Bugs, Toronto

To learn more, read the Challenge submissions, visit www.imaginenationchallenge.ca, or subscribe to the ImagineNation Challenge mailing list.

About the Data Impact Challenge II

Researchers and analysts, who are authorized users of Canadian health care data sets, were invited to answer one or more important health care questions. The questions were generated by Infoway in conjunction with its stakeholder organizations and interested Canadians.

Each entry was evaluated for its quality, representativeness and innovation and was assessed by a panel of health care and academic experts.

About the ImagineNation Challenge Series

The ImagineNation Challenges seek to inspire, provoke, and promote innovation in health and health care and foster a community of innovators in Canada. Launched in 2011, the ImagineNation Challenges is celebrating its 5th anniversary and has run 10 Challenges and distributed over $2.3 million in awards. Together, the community of Challenge participants has answered health care questions, adopted and spread the use of new technologies and put their best ideas forward – all with the aim of trying something innovative in order to improve the patient experience and outcome.

Infoway works with national organizations to help shape the Challenges through expert advice, encourage participation and promote the results. These organizations include:

About Canada Health Infoway

Infoway helps to improve the health of Canadians by working with partners to accelerate the development, adoption and effective use of digital health across Canada. Through our investments, we help deliver better quality and access to care and more efficient delivery of health services for patients and clinicians. Infoway is an independent, not-for-profit organization funded by the federal government.

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For more information:

Haley Armstrong
Senior Director, Communications and Public Relations
Canada Health Infoway
647-713-9459
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