Best Information

Goals 

• Increase patient safety
• Reduce duplicative testing, unnecessary costs and patient hassle
• Ensure open communication between patients and providers
• Speed the adoption of health information technology
• Ensure easy access for patients to their medical records and health information
• Enable better care coordination

Public Policy Ideas for Change 

• Speed the creation of electronic health records and personal health records by selecting and using “interoperable” health standards*
• Drive the secure exchange of clinical information among and across different providers of care*
• Encourage private sector creation and use of unique, confidential health information identifiers to accurately and securely link patients to their health records
• Fundamentally reform the payment model to encourage specific IT adoption by health care professionals and hospitals*
• Provide incentives for health care suppliers and insurers to enable the use of IT
• Conduct research and development of the market requirements and business models needed to create the next generation systems and technologies
• Allow providers and community collaboratives to share information exchange capabilities
• Establish national models for data use that will facilitate community health improvement
• Renovate the education of health care professionals