Point of View
Our core mission is to help healthcare organizations leverage data to be more successful. Today this means supporting the evolution of healthcare to a value-based system whereby all healthcare stakeholders use information to enable the best care possible.
The effective collection, integration and use of information is a key enabler to improving our healthcare system. Healthcare delivery organizations, health insurers, employers, healthcare professionals, medical researchers, drug and medical device manufacturers, government health agencies and patients all need better access to information in order to most effectively play their role.
Unfortunately, in today’s healthcare system, critical information remains fragmented. A patient’s health record may be scattered across the many healthcare organizations and insurers. The fragmentation of data makes it more difficult to accurately diagnose and treat patients; more difficult to organize healthcare resources; and more difficult to measure whether the desired outcomes are being achieved and in a cost effective manner.
It is critical that we move towards operating models and data systems that enable the creation of consumer-centered views of available data. We need to augment the traditional medical record with emerging data types. For example, information collected in real time from patient mobile devices such as glucometers and blood pressure monitors has the potential to alert care providers to patients that are at risk for a medical emergency. A better understanding of environmental, socioeconomic and family/community factors will help providers to personalize treatment plans for their patients. Increasingly, molecular tests can predict disease susceptibility and treatment effectiveness. And we are at the forefront of an explosion of health sensors being used by consumers as the “internet of things” becomes a reality.
As we improve our ability to monitor healthcare, we undoubtedly will have a stronger foundation to improve the quality, safety and cost effectiveness of healthcare. Physician practices, hospitals, health plans, employers and even families all play an increasing role in proactively managing population health, one person at a time. As we build for the future we need to monitor patient outcomes, guide physician and patient decision making in real time and measure the effectiveness of care plans and health management interventions. We can put tools in the hands of providers and consumers. We can enable a continuous feedback and improvement cycle to establish a Learning Health System.
Better access to and use of information enables the following:
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Ensures that individual patients get the best care possible
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Improves care coordination across the continuum of care
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Equips consumers and their care givers with information and tools that promote wellness and better management of their medical conditions
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Enables continuous improvement through the measurement of outcomes, quality and efficiency.
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Provides a foundation of data to support medical research so that we can better understand unmet medical need and comparative effectiveness of treatments.
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Enables active surveillance so that we can detect and rapidly respond to safety issues, epidemics and other public health risks.