Fred’s Perspective: Cut the excuses – it’s time for healthcare to deliver
Healthcare organizations are going to face the tough question – what can be done to improve collective health and cut the slice of GDP spent on care services? The old platitudes and excuses – at some point – won’t cut it.
There is growing potential for vast amounts of critical data to flow into patient records. No longer just snapshots of care provided within the walls of a medical building, records now are being seen to have the potential to describe the breadth and depth of the patient.
That can be as microscopic of genomic data, as advances are coming in collecting it within EHRs and sharing it for research. But as the adage goes, with great power comes great responsibility – one prominent industry group is sounding the alarm about the need to ensure patient privacy is protected as more genomic information is shared for research and other purposes.
Care is also needed as organizations collect information about social determinants of health, which are critical factors in keeping patients as healthy as possible – before they come in for care with dire conditions. Even as organizations are beginning to routinely ask for SDOH factors, it’s more than just an academic exercise – there’s growing awareness of the responsibility this knowledge confers, particularly in public health crises or in combatting racism and health inequality.
Ultimately, healthcare organizations are going to face the tough question – what can be done to improve collective health and cut the slice of GDP spent on care services? The old platitudes and excuses – at some point – won’t cut it.
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