As we mark our birthday virtually this year against the backdrop of the current pandemic, we’d like to thank all of our amazing OBH supporters, advisors and friends who’ve been part of our exciting journey measuring what matters most in health over past 7 years! Here are a few highlights from what has definitely been the busiest (and more recently, the most unpredictable!) year yet…. including the prospect of potentially taking on some clinical work again amongst the data analytics work for some of us.

Over the past 12 months, OBH have been working with NHS England on the implementation of an actionable, common, data-driven approach to population segmentation. In collaboration with NHS Arden and GEM Commissioning Support Unit and the Data, Analysis and Intelligence Service (DAIS) at NHSE/I, the programme of work seeks to build a common framework for segmentation by developing the ‘Bridges to Health’ segmentation model using data sources from the National Commissioning Data Repository (NCDR).

Building on the solid foundations of this person-centred data model, over the past few weeks we’ve been very busy adjusting the model to address the immediate needs of the COVID-19 pandemic response. This aims to support work to establish the populations currently thought to be most ‘vulnerable’ to severe illness from COVID -19. Find out more here.

Back in February, which already seems like a completely different era, we were delighted to have contributed to the APPG ‘The Health of the Nation’ national strategy for #HealthierLongerLives! We look forward to continuing to support this important work, applying OBH’s objective HealthSpan™ and HealthyLifespan® Index at a population level to meet the government’s mission of five extra healthy years by 2035. Given recent events, ensuring a renewed focus on the prevention of ill-health, whilst narrowing the gap between the richest and the poorest seems more urgent than ever. Read the full report here.

Having been selected to participate in the Health Data Research UK Sandbox in September 2019, we look forward to continuing this work involving the use of linked, longitudinal health data to measure and validate OBH’s HealthSpan™ and HealthyLifespan® index measures throughout the future. Find out more here.

And last but not least, we had a great time hosting our second clinical associates network event at the Health Foundry back in October! It was fantastic to see so many members of the #obhnetwork community and welcome some new faces too.

Despite current events, we look forward to seeing what the next year has to hold in what we hope will be a slightly less strange time for everyone! From everyone in the OBH team, we’d like to thank you again for all your support over the past 7 years. We hope you, your families and colleagues keep safe and well.

#OBHis7 #outcomes #healthspan