Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers
Author name: PwC healthcare

Published: 10/22/2009

Summary:
Hundreds of billions of gigabytes of health information are now being collected. As more organizations implement health IT, more data will be produced and the potential for secondary use of data will grow. The data that could be mined from the US health system can be re-used to improve patient care, predict public health trends, reduce healthcare costs, and get drugs to market faster and safer.

In the summer of 2009, PwC invited IT and strategy leaders from leading payer, provider and pharmaceutical companies to share how they have been using secondary health data in a one-day roundtable. This PwC report consolidates the conversations that took place, and includes findings from a national industry poll PwC conducted on secondary health data in the spring of 2009. The report calls for public-private collaboration and a government role in creating incentives for the private sector to collect, share and use health data; to establish standards; and to redefine technical architecture to ensure interoperability. It offers specific recommendations for providers, payers, and pharmaceutical companies to consider in leveraging electronic health data.

  Download the full report, chart pack, and case studies.