Trust and the Learning Health System

Data sharing on a large scale is integral to emerging national initiatives such as learning health systems and precision medicine. Realizing the vision of learning health systems, “in which knowledge generation is so embedded into the core of the practice of medicine that it is a natural outgrowth and product of the healthcare delivery process and leads to continual improvement in care” requires a “trust fabric” to integrate policy and practice in health care, public health, and research. However, as increased data sharing stretches the currently disjointed regulatory and policy environment, the texture and resilience of this trust fabric will be challenged in its capacity to protect the public and its vulnerable populations, and to assure data will be used in ways that reflect societal values. What will it take to trust the health system with all that information? This presentation examines these tensions and dynamics. Based on preliminary data from the clinic and the community, Dr. Platt discusses a proposed a framework for trust to guide decision-making for local, state, and national learning health systems.
Jodyn Platt, MPH, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Learning and Knowledge Systems in the Department of Learning Health Sciences at the University of Michigan Medical School.
Recorded November 9, 2016