Thu 19 March 2015

We're now about 2 weeks into the "Countable Care: Modeling Women's Health Care Decisions" competition, and things are heating up! So far, over 350 data scientists have made over 460 submissions—all in the name of investigating trends and associations in the healthcare decisions of millions of American women.

Our goal is to provide a fun competition that draws out interesting trends and associations in women's healthcare decisions, and raises awareness around reproductive health and family planning. To that end, we're thrilled to be collaborating with Planned Parenthood Federation of America on this competition.

Here's the challenge summary:

Recent literature suggests that the demand for women’s health care will grow by 6 percent by 2020. Given how rapidly the health landscape has been changing over the last 15 years, it’s increasingly important that we understand how these changes affect what care people receive, where they go for it, and how they pay. Using the National Survey of Family Growth, can you predict what drives women’s health care decisions in America?

And here's what Planned Parenthood Federation of America president Cecile Richards said about the competition:

Understanding trends in women’s health care is critical to delivering the expert, quality care that is the hallmark of Planned Parenthood. By bringing in experienced data scientists to better understand women’s needs and preferences in the changing health care environment, this contest will build upon research that could help women across the board access the health care services they need.

Lastly, how could we resist posting a tweet from our favorite local paper?

Thanks again to all of the intrepid DrivenData competitors who have entered so far. For those that haven't yet, sign up here and dive right in!