The Case For Improving Health Data Liquidity

While some disagree on the right approach to transform our healthcare system, most will agree that patients must remain at the core. In order to deliver on the promise of more affordable, convenient care, healthcare decision makers should look at every decision with the patient at the center. How patients experience health reform over the next few years will be the measuring stick of health reform success.

To date, progress has been made in a few areas but we still stand removed from a truly patient-centric healthcare system. To meet this objective, more should be done with patient data – from how it moves within the healthcare system, to how it is analyzed and presented.

First, greater attention is needed on healthcare liquidity: the ability of patient data to move throughout the healthcare system securely. Liquid health information, distributed digitally through electronic health records (EHRs) and health information exchange mechanisms has potential to transform nearly every aspect of healthcare delivery...