SAMHSA: A Case Study on Open Data

Background:

Behavioral health is a component of service systems that improve health status and contain health care and other costs to society. Yet, people with mental and substance use disorders, because of their illness, have largely been excluded from the current health care system and rely on public "safety net" programs. Last year alone approximately 20 million people who needed substance abuse treatment did not receive it and an estimated 10.6 million adults reported an unmet need for mental health care. As a result the health and wellness of the individual is jeopardized and the unnecessary costs to society ripple across America's communities, schools, businesses, prisons & jails, and healthcare delivery systems.

 Program Background:

Once the data is available for public consumption, what’s the next step?

While data is useful in its raw form it is not always the most user-friendly.  As an example of the next step in the open data process, see what the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has done with its treatment locator data to increase access to behavioral health treatment facilities.  SAMHSA’s treatment locator leverages the data SAMHSA already being collected and puts it into a constituent friendly format where people can create map visualizations, find facilities through SMS (text) and IVR (automated voice response via phone), and acts as storage location where others can download the data and develop their own applications.  Additionally see how the aggregation of data in the form of SAMHSA’s national social media health directory can connect local health offices nationwide.

 Evaluation Methods and Results:

SAMHSA’s use of data is measured with Google Analytics and through the monitoring the usage of SMS and IVR messaging.  The results that we have seen thus far through the Open Data Initiative is  private developers taking SAMHSA data and adapting it for their own use.  The results we have seen for the treatment locator SMS pilot will be described at the presentation.

 Conclusions:

By making data publicly available it leads to increased access for people seeking health services and increased content syndication for SAMHSA.

Implications for research and/or practice:

After participants complete viewing the panel they will have several specific examples of how to leverage open information, build an ecosystem and community, and better understand successes as well as gaps in marketing and communication aspects of open government.