The Institute of Medicine has a long-standing mission of improving the quality of health care for all Americans. Its six aims for health care are to advance knowledge, find ways to reduce costs and improve the quality of patient care. In its current budget, the institute is looking for ways to implement new ideas for better patient care. Here’s a look at what some of these ideas might be.
One idea is to use big data and technology to improve our health care. Already we’ve seen how genomics can inform disease prevention and treatment choices. Researchers at the institute want to take this one step further and use big data analytics to study the interactions between genes and diseases. They’re also studying whether there is a link between environment and inflammatory diseases, like asthma. This could help researchers identify the best approaches to use in the care of patients with chronic diseases.
Another research option currently being considered by the institute is studying how the impact of technology on health care will play out over time. Right now, most medical students are required to complete a one or two year medical research project. In the future, though, it’s likely that many health care providers won’t need to rely on students to do all of the grunt work in the medical research arena. That will give time for more focused studies of how new technologies will affect care.
Another area of potential interest is how electronic medical records will evolve. Currently, doctors and hospitals can exchange data electronically, but that functionality is still fairly new. The institute wants to move forward quickly with new electronic systems that will allow doctors and hospitals to exchange more accurate data while reducing the amount of paper records that need to be stored. The result will be improved communication and less duplication of information, which will lead to decreased costs and improved care.
- Perhaps the most exciting development being considered by the Institute of Medicine is the research being done on studying how nutrition will impact our health.
- We all know that there’s a big connection between diet and health, but few people understand the ways that poor diet can harm us.
- By studying the effects of malnutrition on the disease, the researchers hope to provide better information for designing healthy diets and finding other ways to ensure that people don’t suffer from nutritional deficiencies.
- That could have an enormous impact on the way we think about nutrition and developing products to promote it.
As the institute works on developing its six aims for health, it should be kept in mind that health is not a zero-sum game. Everyone has to contribute to making sure that the health of everyone living in a community is improved. Improving a community’s health requires effort, and the Institute of Medicine has recognized that fact. By investing in research into improving the health of individuals and communities, we can ensure that the future of health care is optimistic.
