Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Developing Digital Solutions to Get COVID-19 Diagnostic Data to Public Health Officials, Key Stakeholders
In the midst of a global pandemic, diagnostic results from COVID-19 testing are crucial for decision-making at all levels, from school boards and doctors to employers and local government officials.
However, diagnostic devices particularly from rapid at-home, over-the-counter testing and COVID-19 test results have not yet been paired with digital software tools to easily transmit the information.
Through a product development cycle called a “sprint”, 12 technology teams created digital products to transmit COVID-19 diagnostics data efficiently, securely, and accurately.
To focus on this national challenge, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau, facilitated a COVID-19 TOPx tech sprint to help develop innovative digital solutions for data capture, harmonization and reporting from COVID-19 tests.
Through a product development cycle called a “sprint”, 12 technology teams created digital products to transmit COVID-19 diagnostics data efficiently, securely, and accurately.
The goal is to provide key stakeholders — including federal, state, local and tribal governments, patients, healthcare providers, employers, schools and consumers — easy access to diagnostic data.
Participating teams were selected from the HHS COVID-19 At-Anywhere Diagnostics Design-a-thon, an open innovation technology design sprint open to the public.
Nearly 1,000 participants from government, industry, academia, and non-profit organizations worked to develop digital health tools to automatically capture and wirelessly transmit data from at-anywhere COVID-19 diagnostic tests.
What Is TOPx?
TOPx is modeled on The Opportunity Project (TOP), which brings together technology experts, government officials, and communities to rapidly generate and prototype digital products — powered by federal open data — that solve real-world problems for communities across the country.
TOPx Toolkit provides an adaptable resource for federal agencies, developed by the Census Bureau’s Census Open Innovation Labs (COIL), that enables federal agencies to conduct their own virtual technology development sprints to address key national challenges.
A traditional TOP sprint focuses on challenges identified by multiple federal agencies and facilitated by COIL. In contrast, a TOPx sprint allows federal agencies to use the TOP model on their own, using the TOPx playbook.
Agencies can follow a step-by-step guide and run sprints on their own to engage the public, industry, academia, civic and social sectors in creating data-driven solutions with real-world impact.
Sprint Teams Find Solutions to Problems
For the HHS and Census Bureau effort, teams were asked to focus on helping:
- State and local public health authorities track and understand COVID-19 diagnostic data from populations and communities.
- Stakeholders outside of health care make key operational decisions from diagnostic data.
- Consumers and businesses manage point-of-care testing data outside lab settings.
Products Developed by Sprint Teams
Here are some examples:
- Lifepoint consolidates COVID-19 diagnostics test data from laboratories, centralizing and sharing results with federal and state health authorities, providers, employers, schools and other organizations. It allows users to make operational decisions using this data.
- UDoTest integrates with rapid COVID-19 tests to allow representatives of large employers or organizations to request a test and track their results. Diagnostics data can then be shared with employer systems and health agencies. The team also focused more broadly on patient test data management and is considering use beyond just COVID-19.
- Net Medical Xpress Solutions, Inc collects, coordinates and transmits COVID-19 test data to local, state, and federal authorities. This team specializes in managing information from custom data fields to address the fact that many state and local governments are collecting data (such as gender identity) based on local needs not required in national data.
These technology products are a small sample of the dozens of tools that have been created through this intersection of federal agencies, technologists, non-profits and advocacy voices from communities that are most impacted by these national challenges.
Learn more about these and other products on May 25 at the upcoming COVID-19 TOPx Virtual Solutions Showcase Day.
More about TOP
To date, more than 1,500 individuals, 30 federal agencies, and hundreds of organizations have participated in TOP, leading to 135 new open data tools including apps, websites, mapping tools, data visualizations, games, and more.
Now, with the TOPx and Product Development toolkits, the TOP model can be used by any organization or individual to develop data-driven technology and elevate community voices in response to some of our country’s most pressing challenges.
Join us May 25 as we showcase these amazing tools virtually on Zoom. RSVP at TOPx HHS Showcase.
Sign up for emails to stay in the loop and learn more about upcoming sprints in 2021. Questions? Contact Census Open Innovation Labs.
Haley Ashcom Miller is the lead communications strategist for Census Open Innovation Labs (COIL).
Story Ideas and Statistics
Subscribe
Our email newsletter is sent out on the day we publish a story. Get an alert directly in your inbox to read, share and blog about our newest stories.
About
America Counts tells the stories behind the numbers in a new inviting way. We feature stories on various topics such as families, housing, employment, business, education, the economy, emergency management, health, population, income and poverty.
Contact our Public Information Office for media inquiries or interviews.
Census.gov > Topics > Population
The U.S. Census Bureau is the leading source of statistical information about the nation’s people. Our population statistics come from decennial censuses, which count the entire U.S. population every ten years, along with several other surveys.
Newsroom
Census Bureau Releases Estimates of Undercount and Overcount in the 2020 Census
The U.S. Census Bureau released results today from two analyses about the quality of the 2020 Census counts.
La Oficina del Censo publica estimaciones del conteo del 2020
La Encuesta de la Fase Posterior a la Enumeración y el Análisis Demográfico ayudan a evaluar los resultados del Censo del 2020.
Population Estimates Show Aging Across Race Groups Differs
The nation as a whole continues to grow older with the median age increasing to 38.2 years in 2018, up from 37.2 years in 2010.
Videos
Data Tables
2020 Census Redistricting: Supplementary Tables
These tables present aggregated data on race and Hispanic origin from the 2020 Census Redistricting Data (P.L. 94-171)
Historical Center of Population (1790-2020)
The center of population location is moving west and south.
The Older Population in the United States: 2019
These are the 2019 detailed tables for the older population in the United States.
Visualizations
Publications
Childless Older Americans Presentation
This is an invited presentation given to the Northwest Neighbors Village about the Childless Older Americans: 2018 report.
Living Arrangements of Children: 2019
This report examines the living arrangements of children using data from the 2008 and 2018 ACS, 2007 and 2019 CPS ASEC and 2014 SIPP.
The Regular Receipt of Child Support: 2017
This brief discusses the financial child support received by parents who care for children whose other parent or parents live outside the household.
Fact Sheets
Population
Can Data and Tech Help Solve Environmental Issues?
The Census Bureau's Opportunity Project celebrates its fifth anniversary with four tech development sprints to create solutions to environmental...
Population
Data and Technology Making an Impact in Communities
Over the last four years, The Opportunity Project by the Census Open Innovation Labs has created over 100 data tools that address a variety of challenges.
Population
Census + Open Data = Innovation for the Future
The Census Bureau showcased 14 projects from The Opportunity Project that has transformed the way federal agencies work with the technology industry.
Yes
No
Comments or suggestions?