Where are the benchmarking data?

This particular post is based on my observations and opinions.

The current theories associated with improving health care seem to have little or no data to establish a current state or target state of health care in the U.S. How will we know things are better if we do not know where we started? How will we know where to focus or how to prioritize our efforts?

Certainly there is more to measure than dollars, deaths, CPT codes and ICD-9 codes. Until the day we demand patient centric health care data that is meaningful, actionable, well defined, standardized, and required we will not achieve evidence based, outcomes based, or patient centric care. Too many patients die because providers think they know better than research and data, their patients are different, sicker, less-compliant, etc… These heretics cannot be concerned with scientific findings that support improved outcomes through treatment plans and protocols!

So at the end of my little rant I guess I am requesting that someone actually care about really changing healthcare by providing meaningful information to those that purchase and consume health care. The fact that health care is organized around its self rather than those whose lives depend on it for more than a pay check seems more than a little counter-productive.