Most data on healthcare outcomes today are reported by doctors, rather than patients, says OECD senior policy analyst Ian Forde. “Outcomes, which can only be reported by the patients, vary hugely across hospitals,” he says, warning that unless patients have the opportunity to report outcomes directly, “we have very little idea of how well medicines are working.”
The European Commission can help to ensure that outcomes are measured in a scientifically-valid way and this information can be shared to help member states as they redesign their health systems, according to Martin Seychell, Deputy Director General, DG SANTE, European Commission.
Some member states are already taking steps in this direction, but they have yet to address security concerns. Also, the OECD warns that outcome measurements are varying too much from one hospital to another and
Denmark has launched a series of pilot projects to test the use patient outcomes in reforming its healthcare system, Adam Wolf, CEO of Danish Regions tells Science|Business in an interview.
France is also collecting “a gigantic mass of data, which is almost unique in the world,” says Jean-Yves Fagon, Ministerial Delegate for Health Innovation, French Ministry for Social Affairs and Health. According to Fagon, protecting this data from hackers and malevolent actors will be a difficult task. “This is a topic which warrants attention,” he says.
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