JAMA
Vol. 304 No. 9, pp. 935-1028, September 1, 2010
http://jama.ama-assn.org/current.dtl

Commentaries
Improving Access to Health Care Data: The Open Government Strategy
Patrick H. Conway; Jordan M. VanLare

Extract (Initial article language per JAMA convention]
Access to high-quality data is critical to innovation, quality improvement, and increased efficiency in health care. The federal government has signaled that expanding access to and improving the quality of health care data for the purpose of research is a priority. In its report to Congress, the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research emphasized the need for investment in data infrastructure and access to support comparative effectiveness research. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology included the promotion of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure to facilitate health and clinical research as part of its mission.

The April 2010 release of the Department of Health and Human Services’ (DHHS’) Open Government strategy was a major step forward in expanding health data access. The DHHS developed the strategy in response to President Obama’s Open Government Directive…