Annual Conferences on Health IT & Analytics 2022-2024

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A stakeholder forum across academia, government, and industry, fosters collaboration, identifies health information technology and artificial intelligence (AI) knowledge gaps, and aligns research with critical practice and policy needs.

Project Details -
Completed

As healthcare continues to evolve through digitization, technological innovation, increased adoption of AI, and policy shifts, new challenges and opportunities emerge around the design, implementation, and fair use of digital health tools and analytics. In response, Conference on Health Information Technology and Analytics (CHITA), which was originally launched in 2009 as the Workshop on Health IT & Economics, has served as a critical forum for researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and industry leaders to engage in dialogue and shape a shared research agenda. CHITA plays a vital role in supporting national efforts to build learning health systems by identifying knowledge gaps, disseminating implementation lessons, and generating evidence aimed at making healthcare safer, more effective, and affordable.

From 2022 to 2024, CHITA examined how digital health and AI tools are implemented in real-world settings. Through paper sessions, panels, keynotes, and a preconference doctoral consortium, CHITA explored how strategy, policy, and system design affect the impact of digital technologies, while identifying knowledge gaps, sharing practical lessons, and promoting research that informs both policy and business decisions. The conferences emphasized application design and the potential to translate research into meaningful improvements in care delivery and decision-making.

The specific aims of the research were as follows:

  • Formulate a health IT and analytics research agenda.
  • Empower the next generation of health IT and analytics researchers
  • Foster a cross-disciplinary research community.
  • Disseminate knowledge.

Each year’s conference aligned its agenda with AHRQ’s Digital Healthcare Research Program priorities—usability, clinical decision support, system-level improvement, and consumer-facing tools. Interdisciplinary paper submissions were peer-reviewed and featured research on AI, analytics, implementation science, and public health emergency response. Conference materials and session highlights were broadly shared via open-access platforms, and each year’s conference produced a set of key themes and priorities to help guide future research and practice.

CHITA achieved its aims by building a vibrant research community and generating actionable insights on the use of digital health and AI tools. The conferences highlighted real-world challenges such as patient engagement and unintended bias in algorithms, while providing a platform for collaboration across sectors. With participation from more than 150 organizations and 60 academic institutions, including strong student representation, CHITA supported early-career researchers and helped set the direction for ongoing, policy-relevant research into fair and effective digital healthcare. CHITA’s research agenda, informed by the dialogue at each conference, continues to guide future work, with plans to expand its role in identifying policy-relevant gaps, supporting inclusive implementation practices, and advancing interdisciplinary methods for evaluating digital health and analytics in dynamic care environments.