NAM symposium considers health, health care priorities for next administration

The National Academy of Medicine’s Vital Directions for Health and Health Care initiative today held a public symposium to inform a paper it will release this fall to provide guidance to the incoming administration on health and health care priorities. The symposium featured a series of discussion papers released by the initiative last week. Speakers included Jonathan Perlin, M.D., president of clinical services and chief medical officer for the Hospital Corporation of America and AHA immediate past chairman, who participated in a panel discussion on the topic “strong science and technology.” With respect to that topic, Perlin noted the opportunity for the next administration to build on the ability of health information to inform care across settings and enfranchise patients as consumers of health care. The continuous use of data for a “learning health system” also requires addressing cybersecurity vulnerability, he noted.