The GovLab Press Release: NHS England and The Governance Lab at NYU (The GovLab) have today launched a blueprint – The Open Data Era in Health and Social Care – for accelerating the use of open data in health and care settings.
The availability of open data can empower citizens and help care providers, patients and researchers make better decisions, spur new innovations and identify efficiencies. The report was commissioned by NHS England and written by The GovLab, part of New York University and world leaders in the field of open data usage. It puts forward a proposal for how the health and care system can maximise the impact of sharing open data through establishing priorities and clear ways of measuring benefits.
Tim Kelsey, National Director for Patients and Information for NHS England, said:
“There’s an urgent need for the NHS to use better information and evidence to guide decision-making and investment. We know with scientific and medical research, the rate of discovery is accelerated by better access to data. This report will kick off a conversation about how we can use open data in the NHS to build a meaningful evidence base to support better investment in health and care services. Over the coming months, I’m keen to hear the views of colleagues on how we can take this forward and build an evidence base to improve outcomes for patients.”
Stefaan Verhulst, Co-founder and Chief Research and Development Officer of the GovLab:
“The blueprint lays out a detailed plan to start a conversation about how to gather the evidence needed to understand and assess the shape and size of the impact of open health data. It is important to pay a comparable level of attention to an analysis of open data’s potential benefits, as well as potential risks.”
Download the full report: thegovlab.org/nhs
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