Across UC's work in health, data is used with purpose: to improve care for patients today, accelerate discovery for tomorrow and translate knowledge into solutions that advance human health. By applying analytics across care delivery, research and innovation, we are furthering our work as a learning health system where insights continuously lead to better health.
Using data analytics to improve care access and outcomes
Analytics play a critical role in improving patient experiences and outcomes across our hospitals and clinics.
Faster access to care when it matters most
By analyzing systemwide ambulatory care data and providing ongoing metrics, our health locations are identifying where patients experience delays and where capacity can be better aligned with need. These insights support improvements in new-patient access, including for individuals facing urgent diagnoses such as cancer, helping ensure care begins sooner rather than later by working to shorten the time to getting a first appointment.
Advancing maternal care
Uneven outcomes in maternal care and outcomes is a nationally known public health problem, especially among Blacks or African Americans in which inequities exceed all other groups. Our teams are using data analytics to power comprehensive data analysis to identify the primary clinical and social drivers that contribute to inequities in maternal outcomes.
Management of chronic disease
Shared analytics for conditions such as diabetes and hypertension allow our health care teams to track performance, align best practices and monitor progress over time. These insights support more consistent, evidence-based care, leading to better long-term outcomes for patients living with chronic illness.
UC is breaking down barriers to better diabetes care
UC teams are working to make chronic disease management easier for patients. The Diabetes Care Management Initiative, supported by Center for Data-driven Insights and Innovation (CDI2) data analytics, helps to integrate testing protocols, like blood glucose testing and eye examinations, into regular primary care visits. By including these screenings in routine primary care clinic visits, patients are able to take less trips and experience more integrated, team-based care.
Empowering academic researchers to make real-world impacts
Our secure health data environment is transforming how discovery happens, enabling researchers to answer complex questions faster and at greater scale.
Accelerated discovery
UC researchers can securely study real-world clinical data drawn from millions of patient records from across UC's health locations. This scale allows investigators to examine rare conditions, long-term outcomes, and numerous populations in ways that were previously out of reach.
Collaboration across locations and disciplines
UC is reducing barriers to collaboration and fostering multidisciplinary research by making data accessible across traditional boundaries of campuses and fields of study. UC investigators can work together, generating insights that are more generalizable and more impactful for human health.
Research that advances care
Findings generated through UC-led research inform clinical guidelines, operational improvements, and population health strategies. Discovery loops back into practice, strengthening care delivery delivering value for patients.
UC Health's data-driven system speeds research to benefit patients
The University of California Health's Center for Data-driven Insights and Innovation (CDI2) has developed an innovative research framework that holds the potential for accelerating vital discoveries in the medical field.
Data science is accelerating UC medical research, diagnosis and treatment in California
The UC Health Data Warehouse, managed by the UC Health Center for Data-driven Insights and Innovation (CDI2), contains electronic health data on more than 9 million patients who received care at a UC facility since 2012. In 2024, UC research teams across the UC health system leveraged the data resource to find innovative ways to improve health care and treatment. Here are six papers published during the year.
Responsible health data governance
UC is committed to promoting responsible data stewardship and governance, enabling safe and innovative uses of health data. These efforts balance the importance of using health data at scale with appropriate safeguards for reliability, fairness, transparency, privacy and cybersecurity.
UC's guiding principles for health data sharing are to:
- Support UC’s mission to create and share knowledge broadly but also responsibly
- Ensure clear public benefit, not just financial gain
- Promote justice and take into consideration health inequities
- Be transparent about data activities
- Ensure responsible protection and management of data
Health data governance principles and model seek to engage and empower patients
In today's digital age, where data fuels advancements in health care and medicine, ensuring the responsible use of health data is paramount. For patients, this means safeguarding personal information while harnessing its potential to improve treatment outcomes, enhance medical research and ultimately, elevate the quality of care they receive. The University of California has been at the forefront of data governance for many years, establishing frameworks to uphold patient privacy, foster transparency and promote ethical data practices.
Shaping the Future of Data-Driven Health
While our work is having an impact today, UC continues to invest in the foundations that allow data and analytics to deliver long-term benefits for human health. Our priorities include:
- Scalable, modern data infrastructure: A cloud-based analytics environment now supports insights drawn from more than 10 million patient records, enabling advanced methods such as natural language processing and faster systemwide analysis.
- A responsible approach to data and AI: As analytics and artificial intelligence play a growing role in healthcare, UC Health contributes leadership in governance and policy to ensure these tools are used transparently, fairly, and in ways that promote equity and trust.
- Sustainable pathways for impact: Emerging models for sharing curated real-world evidence with external collaborators expand UC's ability to influence health care innovation while reinforcing its public mission.
Read more in CDI2's annual report
Center for Data-driven Insights and Innovation (CDI2) is the cornerstone of UC's efforts to develop a data-driven learning health care system committed to improving health outcomes. CDI2's annual report highlights the ways in which the center has deepened collaborations across UC and California, including projects aimed at improving ambulatory care access, maternal health, chronic disease management and patient safety.