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BACKGROUND: Web-based, open-source data platforms offer new opportunities for public health agencies to disseminate data and achieve public health surveillance goals. In New York, the Student Weight Status Category Reporting System (SWSCR) is used for public health surveillance on overweight and obesity in children and adolescents in public school districts in New York State (NYS), exclusive of New York City. Prior to the advent of a NYS open data platform, results from SWSCR were disseminated via reports that required significant staff resources to develop, write and seek approval for.
METHODS: In March 2013, in alignment with an Executive Order from the Governor of NYS, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) launched Health Data NY, the nation’s first open data platform devoted solely to state health data. SWSCR data were formatted to comply with platform requirements. Visualizations, including charts and maps, and metadata were developed to accompany the tabular dataset. Training webinars and data visualization guides were developed to assist local partners with data use. Time to release and page views to SWSCR data and reports were monitored before and after the transition to open data.
RESULTS: The adoption of Health Data NY was associated with efficiencies in production and approval time. SWSCR data were posted to the Health Data NY website in one-third the time required to release previous SWSCR reports, despite having to undergo review by the NYSDOH Division of Legal Affairs. Preliminary evidence demonstrated Health Data NY represented a more effective communication channel. Within three months of release, the SWSCR dataset received 5 times the number of page views than the previous reports received. Moreover, the data was utilized by major media outlets across the state and resulted in earned media stories about the burden of childhood obesity and the need for prevention to focus on urban and rural school district areas with higher student obesity rates.
CONCLUSIONS: Open source data platforms, as exemplified by Health Data NY, represent effective channels for disseminating data and achieving goals in public health surveillance. In New York, releasing school district data on obesity rates through an open data platform was associated with efficiencies in production, evidence of greater use and earned media, without any identifiable negative consequences. The subsequent addition of an Application Programming Interface (API) to the data file in December 2013 is expected to enhance the utility and accessibility of the data asset.