Farzad Mostashari, MD, Answers Why Data is 'Oxygen' for Innovation

Farzad Mostashari, MD, visiting fellow, Brookings Institution, former national coordinator for health information technology (HIT), US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), discusses a recent conversation he heard at a HIMSS conference in Orlando, Florida. Kathleen Sebelius, HHS Secretary, asked what can be done to spark innovation. Dr Mostashari notes that a CEO answered, “We’re already doing it. Data is oxygen for innovation because that is the key commodity that we need to be able to create new products, to be able to understand health better, [and] to bring the tools of data to healthcare.”

Dr Mostashari adds that there is a lot more “oxygen” and innovation in the healthcare environment due to digitization.