Harnessing Openness to Transform American Health Care

This report brings the Digital Connections Council's expertise in information and communications technology and electronic commerce to bear on those aspects of healthcare that have been or can be changed by the Internet, the continued growth in computing power and data storage capacity, and the increasing digitization of information. These technological changes, and the greater openness that they enable, are visible in areas that range from biomedical research and the disclosure of research findings, through the;process of evaluating drugs and devices, to the emergence of electronic health records, and the development and implementation of treatment regimes by caregivers and patients. Bringing greater openness to different parts of the health care production chain can lead to substantial benefits by stimulating innovation, lowering costs, reducing errors, and closing the gap between discovery and treatment delivery.