Recent Developments in Health Information: An International Perspective

This chapter provides an overview of the status of recent developments in health information at a national level in selected developed countries, including common strategies, trends, and future directions. It draws primarily on the experience of countries other than the United States. It argues that the evolving and expanding understanding of health, population health, and their determinants has led to increased demands for more and different data and information. In particular, these demands focus on the need for broader data on multiple determinants of health, as well as data capturing a broader concept of health. Different countries have responded to these new demands in different ways, but common themes are emerging in those national responses.