A Data-Driven Playbook: How the NFL Is Revolutionizing Player Health and Safety
The proceeding is a recap of one of the sessions from the second annual IQVIA Digital Innovation Summit where we welcomed over 500 healthcare leaders to explore how cutting-edge advancements in data and technology are reshaping healthcare communications. The sessions highlighted how these innovations enabled more personalized engagement, enhanced customer experiences, and ultimately, better patient outcomes.
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Sports has a long history of using data to drive decisions. With the explosion in sports stats, medical data, movement and detailed equipment information, the NFL has been at the forefront of data-driven decision-making for player health. During the 2024 season, the NFL had a historic low for the number of concussions in preseason and regular season games and practices. Dr. Christina Mack, Chief Scientific Officer and SVP, Applied AI Science at IQVIA and Dr. Mackenzie Herzog, Vice President of Player Performance and Strategic Innovation at the NFL, shared the story behind the longstanding collaboration between their organizations. Their work offers a compelling blueprint for how data, technology, and human insight can converge to improve health outcomes, not just for athletes, but for broader populations as well.
- Transforming Player Health with Data: Bringing together wearable tech, electronic health records, and advanced analytics has driven effective injury reduction- most notably a historic low for number of concussions and continued reduction in lower extremity strains in recent years through smarter training protocols.
- Sharing Scientific Evidence to Drive Change: Behavioral science and strategic communication helped drive adoption of innovations like the Guardian Cap and strategic load management, showing how data-backed strategies can drive changes.
- From Touchdowns to Treatment Breakthroughs: AI-powered predictive models are employed to predict injury risk in the NFL and are used more broadly across healthcare systems- reducing strokes, correcting diabetes misdiagnoses, and addressing social determinants of health- proving that technology can scale across industries and impact public health within global healthcare systems.
From Sticky Notes to Smart Systems: How Data Is Transforming Player Health in the NFL
“(The) NFL has been one of the most fearless organizations that I've encountered and also one of the most open to taking the data, learning from the data, and putting immediate action into place to make the game safer.”
- Dr. Christina Mack, Chief Scientific Officer and GM, Applied AI Science at IQVIA
It was noted at the top of the session that sports organizations have historically been very open to utilizing data to understand certain aspects of the game and how the health of players can be affected. When the data highlights potential implications to an athlete’s health, the NFL has been ahead of the curve in using that data to make changes to the game. Further, an incredible amount of progress has been made in the last decade to streamline and enhance data collection.
Drs Herzog and Mack pointed out that data collection in the NFL was not always centralized and standardized- fast forward to today, and the league now operates with a fully integrated, standardized electronic health record (EHR) system across all 32 teams. The comprehensive medical data collected in the EHR is enriched with data collected by wearable devices, sports statistics, equipment tracking, and diagnostics to create a rich, multidimensional dataset that fuels smarter, faster decision-making.
This digital transformation has enabled the NFL to shift to proactive injury reduction. One of the most notable outcomes: a 17% reduction in concussion rates between 2023 and 2024 alonei- but concussions are just one piece of the puzzle. While concussions dominate headlines, 60% of NFL injuries are lower-body musculoskeletal injuries, and muscle strains account for an unexpectedly high proportion of missed playing timeii. By analyzing wearable tracking data, IQVIA and the NFL discovered that a strategic return from the offseason, including a gradual ramp-up preseason strategy, was associated with significantly fewer injuries.
“(The NFL and IQVIA) have put a lot of effort towards lower extremities strains, and… we've seen a sustained reduction in those injuries as well by applying the same data driven approach that we used with concussions to this injury.”
-Dr. Mackenzie Herzog, Vice President of Performance and Strategic Innovation at the NFL
The data has also driven innovation in equipment design. The NFL introduced position-specific helmets tailored to the unique impact profiles of distinct roles on the field. But even the best equipment is only effective if it is used. That is where behavioral science comes in. The Guardian Cap- a padded shell worn over helmets during practice- initially faced skepticism from players. Through strategic communication and leadership by coaches and players on the teams, adoption grew. Today, wearing a Guardian Cap or top-performing helmet is standard in preseason practice, and concussions in practice have dropped by 50iii%.
To manage the growing volume and complexity of data, the NFL partnered with AWS to create the “Digital Athlete”- an AI-powered platform that automates data collection and analysis. From computer vision that tracks head impacts to models that guide training protocols, the platform enables additional data sharing and action with teams in real-time. Once again, implementation science is key; as Dr. Herzog noted, “finding ways to communicate the messages (around predictive indicators of injury) and to really get the players and the stakeholders to take in these messages and use them has been really key to… the reductions that we've had.”
Beyond the Gridiron: Broader Healthcare Applications
“Everything that we are talking about today (with NFL players) can be applied to what we are trying to do (with) the broader population and our broader healthcare system. We are already using advanced methods within the healthcare setting to predict and action findings, leading to better diagnoses and patient care.”
- Dr. Christina Mack
As healthcare continues to evolve, the integration of advanced data science and machine learning is proving to be a powerful catalyst for change- not just in elite sports, but across broader patient populations. Dr. Mack emphasized that the predictive, data-driven strategies deployed in the NFL are also applied to real-world healthcare settings, with measurable impact across patient populations. She gave examples of her team’s work in this space, once again demonstrating how data can be transformed into actionable insights that improve outcomes at scale.
- In one initiative, machine learning algorithms were deployed within an electronic medical record (EMR) system to identify atrial fibrillation patients at high risk of stroke. The result: a 22% reduction in strokes and $7 million in savings during the pilot phase alone. This model is now being scaled across the UK’s National Health Service, impacting 20% of the country’s population.
- In another example, AI was used to address a common diagnostic challenge- misclassification of diabetes. Many adults with Type 1 diabetes are mistakenly diagnosed as Type 2, leading to suboptimal treatment. By embedding a machine learning model into a healthcare system, IQVIA identified over 1,700 patients who required reclassification, ensuring they received the appropriate care.
These examples illustrate the potential of data not just as a tool for analysis, but as a driver of real-time, real-world action. The key, Dr. Mack noted, is integrating these insights directly into the systems where care is delivered, ensuring that “people are being data driven- not as a buzzword but as… something that (we’re) doing every day for patients.”
Conclusion: A Playbook for Change
The NFL-IQVIA partnership is an excellent example of how a long-term commitment to improving outcomes begins with the desire to turn data into action. For all involved- it is not just about collecting information- it is about translating it into meaningful change and creating a culture of listening to the data and actioning the insights. The NFL’s transformation is more than a technological upgrade- it is a paradigm shift in how athlete health is understood, managed, and protected. By embedding data into every layer of decision-making, from training protocols to equipment design, the league has not only reduced injuries but also set a new standard for proactive care.
This same data-driven mindset is now rippling beyond the gridiron, reshaping healthcare systems around the world. Whether it is preventing concussions on the field or strokes in the clinic, the message is clear: when data is harnessed with purpose, it becomes a powerful force for not only increased player performance but for improved outcomes in public health as well.
Editor’s Note: Some quotes have been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
