Using Data to Support Better Health Care: One Infrastructure with Many Uses

The United States will spend $2.4 trillion on health care this year, yet there is no system in place to efficiently evaluate the quality, effectiveness, and safety of the care that is delivered. In fact, less than 0.1 percent of health care spending is dedicated to developing evidence on what works best. New investments in health information technology, quality measurement and reporting, medical product safety surveillance, and comparative effectiveness research have the potential to move toward a nationwide data infrastructure — a true “learning health care system.”

On December 2, the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings hosted a forum to outline a vision and practical next steps toward a health information infrastructure that could quickly and efficiently generate evidence for health care decision-makers. Distinguished speakers joined Mark McClellan, director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, to discuss specific needs in building this infrastructure, offering insights from projects in the private sector and perspectives on the federal role in this effort.

Overview — Using Data to Support Better Health Care: One Infrastructure with Many Uses »