The Defense Health Agency (DHA) is launching a new data strategy aimed at improving decision-making speed and readiness across military medical operations by turning agency data into an actionable asset.
The new strategy aims to improve the quality, accessibility, and reliability of its data to support leaders, clinicians, and planners responsible for military medical support, according to DHA.
“This is delivering for the warfighter,” said Vice Adm. Darin K. Via, director of DHA. “By turning vast data sets into useful knowledge in real time, we enhance our decision advantage. We give our leaders, practitioners, and the warfighter the information they need to remain decisive and focused, enabling rapid mission success.”
The strategy centers on five key lines of effort: Strengthening data roles and responsibilities; maximizing use of authoritative data sources; operationalizing data as a product; building trust through data quality and transparency; and maintaining an enterprise data catalog.
Ultimately, those efforts will improve the agency’s ability to manage and use data across systems, DHA leaders said. The goal is to reduce time spent searching across multiple sources for critical information and instead treat data as a central mission resource, they added.
“This strategy will equip DHA leaders to develop interventions and address complex problems sooner and with greater confidence,” said Jesus Caban, DHA’s chief data and analytics officer, during a recent speech at the ACCELERATE 125 Health IT Awards. “Ultimately, this translates to a healthier, more decisive, and better-equipped fighting force.”
Caban added that the agency intends to “operationalize data as a strategic asset for the decision-makers we support, with a life cycle, owner, and quality measures until we retire it, similar to software life cycles.”
According to DHA, improved data access could provide leaders with a real-time operational view of medical resources. These include global blood inventories, medical bed availability across the nation, and expert knowledge and training support through the Joint Trauma System.
The strategy also calls for building centralized and authoritative data sources that allow leaders and analysts to work from consistent, trusted information. Agency officials said these efforts will support broader Defense Department priorities around artificial intelligence (AI) by creating stronger data foundations for advanced analytics and AI-driven tools – aligning with the Pentagon’s goal of building AI-ready data.
DHA is also expanding data-sharing initiatives with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to improve coordination across the federal healthcare system.
“Data drives trust with decisions in patient care,” said Lisa Rosenmerkel, chief data officer at the VA. She added that these initiatives help improve access to information needed to better understand patient populations.
Under the strategy, DHA said it plans to partner with industry to explore cutting-edge solutions to support the initiative.
DHA will implement the strategy agencywide through a stewardship campaign led by their chief data and analytics office. The effort will include new tools, workforce training, and defined roles aimed at improving accountability for the quality, value, and protection of DHA’s data assets, the agency said.