services, and opportunities for improvement. Used appropriately, it will facilitate the greater accountability this IOM committee recommends (see Chapter 6).

5. To assess the health of the American people and overall health system performance accurately, the department needs current data from the nation’s health system. To facilitate collection of these data, the department should actively promote the universal adoption of electronic information capabilities—including health information exchange and electronic medical, personal health records—for administrative and clinical purposes.

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Balas, E., and S. Boren. 2000. Managing clinical knowledge for health care improvement. In Yearbook of medical informatics. Bethesda, MD: National Library of Medicine. Pp. 65-70.

CBO (Congressional Budget Office). 2007. Research on the comparative effectiveness of medical treatments: Issues and options for an expanded federal role. Washington, DC: Congress of the United States.

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Diamond, C. C., and C. Shirky. 2008. Health information technology: A few years of magical thinking? Health Affairs 27(5):w383-w390.

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IOM (Institute of Medicine). 2001. Crossing the quality chasm: A new health system for the 21st century. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.