Setting the Agenda to Create a Learning Public Health System

If you were opening a small business or starting a new household project, what would be your first step? You would likely read reviews and talk to experts or others who have already successfully reached similar goals in the most efficient and effective way. A common sense approach would be to look for – and identify – the best route to success, pulling information from a variety of sources.
It’s the same method we need to understand the best strategies for the nation’s public health system, which faces everyday pressures from health threats like measles, flu and antimicrobial resistant infections. The system is in a constant process of learning what works. But what would happen if we could harness gaps in information and better spread up and scale our successes? What if a sort of “Angie’s List” pointed to what works best to improve the nation’s health?  A “learning public health system” would result from better collection, integration and analysis of health data.    
A recent special issue by eGEMs (Generating Evidence and Methods to improve patient outcomes), a product of AcademyHealth’s Electronic Data Methods (EDM) Forum, and Frontiers in PHSSR (Public Services and Systems Research) features nine articles that set the agenda for the evolving space of PHSSR, helping to identify emerging health threats and develop interventions that promote improved health.
The issue, called “Addressing Data Needs for Public Health,” looks, in part, at impro...

Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - April 14, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Policy Source Type: blogs