How can we use data to help us deliver more efficient and effective healthcare? As physicians, we must be asking ourselves this in every case.

While "alert fatigue," privacy concerns, human error and systemic blind spots can create cracks for important data to slip into, the key to adequately serving our patients lies in how effectively we can use data — big and small — for preventive and remedial health services.

Physicians, on the whole, are eager to help overcome data gaps with digital health tools. A recent survey of 1,300 physicians from 2016–2022 revealed growing recognition of technology's benefit, with the biggest growth seen in remote care tools and planning for digital therapeutics. According to the survey, "The number of physicians who saw [digital health] tools as an advantage grew from 85% in 2016 to 93% in 2022 and named improved clinical outcomes and work efficiencies as the driving factors, followed by the ability to reduce stress and burnout, electronic health record integrations and data privacy assurances." (Healthcare IT News).

In light of the growing use of physician adoption of digital health tools, the authors of an excellent article in Harvard Business Review remind us that healthcare quality measurement rests on three questions:

• Are we doing the right things to manage health and healthcare?
• Are we getting the outcomes we want?
• If not, what do we need to change?

Properly determining how to develop systems to use a growing quantity and variety of digital information is perhaps the preeminent — and most daunting — healthcare challenge of our time. We must enable doctors and healthcare systems to share information about patients much more efficiently and effectively.

While the federal government has delivered $38 billion in incentives over the past decade to private hospitals and healthcare providers to shift to electronic health records and modernize data systems, there were few requirements for those systems to support data sharing. Unfortunately, many state and local-level health departments and private practices were left out of this vital, yet ultimately partial modernization. The revolution has not yet reached every corner.

As physicians, we must be aware of possible cracks in the system, understand patient health literacy levels, and foster support systems for every patient. And we must share health data when it serves our patients' health needs.