Extra-condensed knowledge

This container of golden knowledge describes key aspects of the current state of the art of digital transformation of the health care system.

It describes many opportunities for the Biden administration to advance toward digital transformation.

Gains from digitization remain limited from a number of perspectives.

The United States and other countries have digitized but have not digitally transformed.

The lack of digital transformation is evident in that data and technology do not seamlessly integrate into the daily lives of patients to help them engage in healthier behaviors or into clinical decision-making to support clinicians in delivering optimal care.

Research efforts do not easily scale to include data from disparate electronic health records (EHRs), and resulting new knowledge does not routinely make it back to the bedside.
As made catastrophically clear during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, public and population health data infrastructure is heterogeneous at best, impairing the ability to continuously monitor and use real-time data to inform preparedness and response planning and actions.

Genioux knowledge fact condensed as an image

Condensed knowledge

These are just some of the many opportunities for the Biden administration to advance toward digital transformation.

Regardless of their selected targets, ultimate success will depend on the extent to which digital transformation is interwoven with broader quality and efficiency goals.
The hallmark of digital transformation is to establish the direct relationship between applications of digital capabilities and improved performance and more importantly, improved outcomes.
During the past year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, clinicians and patients have witnessed an astounding example of digital transformation: the breathtaking speed with which the majority of ambulatory care transitioned from in-person visits to telemedicine encounters.
The United States should be buoyed by this clear evidence that health care systems can change quickly when the needed digital tools are available and there is a clear and compelling need to use them.
The Biden administration’s digital health legacy will therefore be defined not by how well it advances digital transformation but in how much health is realized from it.

Category 2: The Big Picture of the Digital Age

[genioux fact produced, deduced or extracted from JAMA]

Type of essential knowledge of this “genioux fact”: Essential Analyzed Knowledge (EAK).

Type of validity of the "genioux fact".

Inherited from sources + Supported by the knowledge of one or more experts.

Authors of the genioux fact

Fernando Machuca

References

From Digitization to Digital Transformation. Policy Priorities for Closing the Gap, Julia Adler-Milstein, February 23, 2021, JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Julia Adler-Milstein, PhD

Dr. Julia Adler-Milstein is a Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Clinical Informatics and Improvement Research (CLIIR).

Dr. Adler-Milstein is a leading researcher in health IT policy, with a specific focus on electronic health records and interoperability. She has examined policies and organizational strategies that enable effective use of electronic health records and promote interoperability. She is also an expert in EHR audit log data and its application to studying clinician behavior. Her research – used by researchers, health systems, and policymakers – identifies obstacles to progress and ways to overcome them.