September 17, 2019

Competition Calls For Data-Drive Solutions To High Infant, Maternal Mortality

Article origination IPBS-RJC
Pixabay/public domain

Pixabay/public domain

There’s a call out for data-driven solutions to address the state’s high rates of infant and maternal mortality.  The Healthy Mom + Baby Datapalooza competition is open to the public and will offer all the necessary data for teams to come up with solutions to improve maternal and infant health. 

Teams are encouraged to create data visualizations or analyses to better show the problem. 

Matt Kirby is a senior consultant with KSM Consulting, a data consulting firm working with the state on the effort.

"Teams that successfully pull in those different types of perspectives, can provide us with some really creative solutions that take us in new directions and help to surface things in the data that we weren’t able to see before," says Kirby. 

READ MORE: New Laws Aim To Address Infant And Maternal Mortality

This is the first time all this information is being made available to the public in one place. Teams from data, health care and policy backgrounds are encouraged to submit ideas.

State departments are working with other organizations to lead the effort through the state's new OB Navigator program. 

Kirby says issues like maternal and infant mortality are complicated.

"Ultimately that’s what will help drive solutions for this problem in our state is a wide variety of skill sets coming together, bringing data to the table, sharing that data and having the conversation," Kirby says. 

Finalists will present their solutions at an event in Fort Wayne, an area identified as a target for the OB Navigator program

Contact Jill at jsheridan@wfyi.org or follow her on Twitter at @JillASheridan.

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