Poor Data Infrastructure Hampers Quality Improvement, PCAST Says

The nation's healthcare system needs to follow the lead of the aviation and manufacturing industries and adopt a systems-engineering approach to quality improvement, but fee-for-service payments and an inadequate health data infrastructure are obstacles to doing so, according to a new report from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PDF).

“The predominant fee-for-service payment system is the primary barrier to greater use of systems methods and tools in healthcare, as it serves as a major disincentive to more efficient care,” PCAST co-chairs John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Eric Lander, president of the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard research organization, wrote in the report's introduction. “First and prerequisite for other kinds of progress, the nation must accelerate the transition to payment models that pay for value rather than volume.”

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Source: Modern Healthcare