Health information technology has the power to drive advances in personalized medicine that will offer better-targeted treatments – and save the health system money – according to a new report from the Center for Technology Innovation at Brookings.
Industry leaders are set to discuss the implications at a conference today at Brookings.
With federal officials pursuing the goal of a personal human genome map under $1,000 in five years it is possible to envision a future where treatments are tailored to individuals' genetic structures, prescriptions are analyzed in advance for likely effectiveness, and researchers study clinical data in real-time to learn what works, wrote Darrell West in the executive summary. West Is the founding director of the Center for Technology Innovation at Brookings.
"Implementation of these regimens creates a situation where treatments are better targeted, health systems save money by identifying therapies not likely to be effective for particular people, and researchers have a better understanding of comparative effectiveness," he adds, citing the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, 2010.
[See: White House calls for health data exchange standards.]
The study outlines the challenges of enabling personalized medicine, as well as the policy and operational changes that would facilitate connectivity, integration, reimbursement reform, and analysis of information.
"Our health system requires a seamless and rapid flow of digital information, including genomic, clinical outcome, and claims data," West says. "Research derived from clinical care must feed back into assessment in order to advance care quality for consumers."
Also, critical, says West, are privacy rules that strike the right balance between privacy and innovation.
David Brailer, founder and chairman of the health IT investment firm, Evolution Partners, and former national coordinator for healthcare information technology, will deliver the keynote speech at today's event.
[Brailer on health IT: Brailer: 'The bright spot is health IT'.]
