Proposal of a learning health system to transform the National Health System of Spain

This article identifies the main challenges of the National Health Service of Spain and proposes its transformation into a Learning Health System. For this purpose, the main indicators and reports published by the Spanish Ministries of Health and Finance, Organization for Economic Co-operation and D...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Carnicero Mazón, Rafael, Rojas de la Escalera, David, Elicegui Maestro, Ignacio|||0000-0003-0822-5522, Carnicero Giménez de Azcárate, Javier
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2019
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Cantabria (UC)
Repositorio:UCrea Repositorio Abierto de la Universidad de Cantabria
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unican.es:10902/17220
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10902/17220
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Learning health system
Big Data applied to healthcare
Big Data applied to clinical research
Data protection
Patient’s phenotyping
Big Data applied to National Health System of Spain
Descripción
Sumario:This article identifies the main challenges of the National Health Service of Spain and proposes its transformation into a Learning Health System. For this purpose, the main indicators and reports published by the Spanish Ministries of Health and Finance, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and World Health Organization (WHO) were reviewed. The Learning Health System proposal is based on some sections of an unpublished report, written by two of the authors under request of the Ministry of Health of Spain on Big Data for the National Health System. The main challenges identified are the rising old age dependency ratio; health expenditure pressures and the likely increase of out-of-pocket expenditure; drug expenditures, both retail and consumed in hospitals; waiting lists for surgery; potentially preventable hospital admissions; and the use of electronic health record (EHR) data to fulfil national health information and research objectives. To improve its efficacy, efficiency, and quality, the National Health Service of Spain should be transformed into a Learning Health System. Information and communication technologies (IT) enablers are a fundamental tool to address the complexity and vastness of health data as well as the urgency that clinical and management decisions require. Big Data solutions are a perfect match for that problem in health systems.