A message from Carol Diamond, MD, MPH
Managing Director, Markle Foundation
Chair, Connecting for Health

Welcome to Connecting for Health -- an initiative of the Markle Foundation.

Since 2002, we have been on a journey to realize the full benefits of health information technology to improve health and health care.

There is an African proverb that says: "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

Our journey would take us nowhere fast if not for the hundreds of collaborators who have joined us. They come from a diverse array of organizations and expertise, yet they passionately share a vision of health professionals, consumers, and decision-makers, all networked in a secure electronic environment.

Where do we want to go? To a more connected health care system that puts having the right information at the heart of every health decision. Health professionals should be networked together and sharing information when authorized to coordinate each person's care. Individual consumers, logging in from home, should be able to manage their health information, communicate better with clinicians, and take better care of loved ones. And everyone faced with making a decision about their health or the health of a loved one should do so based on knowing what works best. We can only achieve this by changing our fragmented and paper-based health care to a more connected, dynamic, learning system that makes information available when and where it's needed for the best possible health outcomes.

Together, our collaborators undertake a methodical process to articulate rules for an environment designed to deliver critical information when and where it's needed, and, at the same time, protect the privacy and security of personal health information.

When we started this journey, we didn't know whether we could succeed. As time went by, we discovered that finding agreement is not only possible, but powerful.

You can follow our journey by browsing our Phases of Work.

Much of our efforts manifest in a body of work we call the Connecting for Health Common Framework -- a set of policy and technical resources, or "rules of the road," for networking health information to improve health and health care. We invite you to use, adapt, and help us improve the Common Framework as you undertake your own efforts to implement health information technology.

The road ahead is a challenging one, and there is much still to be done. We hope you find this web site helpful and we welcome your comments.

Sincerely,
Carol