HDG #001: Becoming a health data guru

Read time: 5 minutes

Someone once told me that I “know about every dataset under the sun” which made me 😍

Not quite, but... that’s when it occurred to me. I HAVE seen a LOT of data. But my superpower is knowing how to bring it all together and use it. I started in this career 13+ years ago, and since then I have been a corporate analyst, experienced startup life 2x, met a TON of people in the healthcare/community/health equity/and data space, and worked with arguably thousands of different health data sets/concepts.

My passion is learning about how the business/domain concepts, the tools, the data sites/sets, and all the various approaches come together in a practical way to move the dial.

To me, that’s what being a guru in your field is all about, and why I find so much fulfillment in working with health data for health equity.

It's not about being an expert who knows everything (that's impossible in healthcare anyway). It's about the willingness to continue to learn and the wisdom to know how seemingly unrelated things might come together.

So today I'm going to tell you how to become a health data guru, regardless if you're already working with health data or not. The future of healthcare is data. Learning how to use it is a major differentiator for you and will open more ideas for strategic initiatives that have a tangible impact on outcomes and equity.

Unfortunately, many healthcare leaders and startup execs don't bother to learn about data unless they're not in a specific "data-related" role.

Many people think someone else will make sense of the data and explain it to them.

And there are other reasons.

• They feel they aren't "math" people (self-proclaimed)

• They tend to make decisions based on anecdotes or gut feelings

• They never had to use data before, but rose the ranks

• There are so many different ways to use data in healthcare, they tend to stay in their lane of learning

But there are some simple ways you can start leveling up your health data game and get more exposure to health data, no matter what stage in the game you're at currently.

Here's how, step by step:

Step 1: Follow newsletters and publications that tend to have more data in them.

Many of you may keep up with healthcare current events through newsletters or following sites like Modern Healthcare, Becker's Hospital Review, etc. These are great resources.

All you have to do is add a few more to your list that tend to have more data or a research focus. I personally like Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), Gist Healthcare, The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) Catalyst, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) News.

Step 2: Follow healthcare influencers online that tend to cite data more often.

Many folks go wrong on this one when they only tend to follow the big names (which are also valuable to follow).

But there are arguably handfuls of us consistently talking healthcare and backing it up with data or research articles. Some of my LinkedIn favorites lately have been Eric Bricker MD, Chris Deacon Esq, Jane Sarasohn-Kahn from Health Populi, Blake Madden from Hospitalogy, and Preston Alexander’s Healthcare Breakdown—but there are so many others. Search your social media platform of choice to browse what's out there.

Step 3: Familiarize with the many healthcare data sources out there.

Data abounds in healthcare. It can be hard to find what you’re looking for, but there are many places to look. For starters, try my Five (5) MUST-bookmark health data sets and the 10+ data sources found in my Guide, How to Do a Community Health Needs Assessment.

Step 4: Consult with the data experts—they love answering questions about data.

No matter where you're at in your career or journey, there is always more to learn about data in health and human services. And the more you learn, the more successful you will be in your role and the more marketable you will be in your career—no matter what your journey happens to be.

The final (and hardest) step is to talk to as many people as you can who are "in the trenches" of the data and experts in the field. Ask a lot of questions. Ask about the details of how they came to the conclusion that they did, what the steps of their analysis were, what problems they ran into, or if they have any tips/tricks they'd recommend you brush up on. Seek out people talking about new and novel uses of data in healthcare (e.g. new AI, new tools, or new data sources) and pick their brains as much as you can.

These steps alone certainly won't make you a health data guru overnight, but they're a great start.

You'll start getting bite-sized data exposure to concepts in a context you're already familiar with, which will make it easier to follow along and learn (and if you're not already familiar, you'll start learning about new concepts centered around data).

They'll also give you new ideas of how to leverage data in your own line of work, and give you cross-exposure to more data concepts than you might if you stayed focused in your lane alone.

And when you still can't get enough: follow my weekly newsletter to get bite-sized healthcare data topics delivered to you every Sunday.

Whenever you are ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:

1. If you're wanting to learn more about health data quickly so you can market yourself, your company, or just plain level up your health data game, I'd recommend checking out my free Guides.

2. Book some time to chat with me 1:1 about your data questions, project or product ideas, or for expert technical data advisory.