The promise of big data for precision population health management in the US

President Obama has announced a research initiative that aims to accelerate progress toward a new era of precision medicine, with a near-term focus on cancers and a longer-term aim to generate knowledge applicable to the whole range of health and disease.

To broadly examine the potential health and financial benefits of health information technology (HIT), this paper compares health care with the use of IT in other industries. It estimates potential savings and costs of widespread adoption of electronic medical record (EMR) systems, models important health and safety benefits, and concludes that effective EMR implementation and networking could eventually save more than $81 billion annually--by improving health care efficiency and safety--and that HIT-enabled prevention and management of chronic disease could eventually double those savings while increasing health and other social benefits. However, this is unlikely to be realized without related changes to the health care system.