PCCI

PCCI: Supporting Vulnerable Communities

At PCCI, our team of clinicians and expert data scientists strive to support the health of vulnerable communities in North Texas through the responsible applications of AI and non-medical drivers of health (NMDoH) analytics. NMDoH are the conditions in the places where people live, learn, work and play (e.g., food insecurity, housing, transportation) that affect a wide range of health risks and outcomes. These external social, economic and environmental factors have been shown to be responsible for upwards of 80% of what keeps us healthy or, conversely, leads to illness and an impaired quality of life.  As a non-profit, your support is critical to this mission.

Why support PCCI? You may have felt the impact of PCCI’s innovative AI and NMDoH programs during the COVID-19 pandemic when you learned about the spread of the infection through our neighborhoods. Or if you’ve checked the Dallas County Health & Human Services Department’s Pediatric Asthma Surveillance System dashboard―developed by PCCI― that offers insights into the asthma risks on your neighborhood. And you may know a pregnant woman who was able to bring their child to full term thanks to the Parkland Health’s Preterm Birth Prevention program powered by PCCI’s AI. We aim to ensure that each of our innovations are targeted to the unique needs of our community and equitably applied and support the most vulnerable in our neighborhoods.

Your Support is Critical in Creating Opportunities for Women in Technology

Benefiting the most from your support will be PCCI’s women in data science intern program, the Sachs Summer Scholars. PCCI developed this STEM-focused program to help open doors to women seeking careers in data science. This is an industry challenge as, according to Girls Who Code, from 1984 to today, the number of female computer science graduates dropped from 37% to 18% and computing degrees are less likely to be awarded to women in all racial and ethnic groups. These trends are taking place in spite of the fact that women outnumber men overall at universities. At PCCI we are committed to reversing this trend and improving diversity in the data science and technology industry all while focusing their contributions, efforts and learnings towards innovative, practical solutions supporting our local community.

 Your support will enable PCCI to continue to provide unrivaled opportunities for undergraduate, graduate and doctoral female students from diverse backgrounds to work side-by-side with PCCI data scientists and clinicians and directly contribute to projects benefiting the community such as improving maternal health and pediatric asthma outcomes, lowering suicide risk, and developing a community surveillance system for diabetes and hypertension. In 2024, PCCI reported that 71.43% of participating interns were from diverse ethnicities. PCCI’s internship program helps these students to improve their self-confidence, hone their programming and analytics skills in order to open up greater career opportunities, fuel their passion for learning and helping their community, and build lifelong memories of meaningful accomplishments.  

PCCI: Leaders in providing responsible healthcare AI programs to help the most vulnerable in North Texas

PCCI’s teams of acclaimed clinicians and expert data scientists strive to accomplish its mission of advancing the health of underserved and vulnerable communities through multiple approaches that produce a significant impact. PCCI believes that data, done right, has the power to galvanize communities, inform leaders and empower people. It also believes that clinical data only paints a partial picture of an individual and his or her specific needs. The organization’s business model focuses on cutting edge uses of data science, social determinants of health and clinical expertise across clinical and community settings.

PCCI collaborates with philanthropic foundations, federal agencies, rural and urban health systems, payers, local municipalities, community-based organizations and others who share PCCI’s common interest in finding the most impactful ways to address the needs of vulnerable populations.

The application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare in North Texas is being led by PCCI. Most of the programs listed below, have advanced AI elements that help create responsible and actionable data to guide clinical decisions and population health in an ethical and equitable manner. Examples include: 

Parkland Trauma Index of Mortality (PTIM)

Pediatric Asthma Surveillance System (PASS)

Community Vulnerability Compass

Many of these programs have proven to be cost effective, scalable and successful.  We will continue to invest and explore new ways to apply AI solutions in collaboration with some of the top healthcare providers and public health organizations in the nation.