The Kanter Letter on Health Outcomes Research and a National Health Outcomes Database
Published by the Kanter Family Foundation, Joseph H. Kanter, Chairman
Inaugural Edition Vol. 1, No. 1 November 2000, Philip D. Duncan, Editor

To stimulate discussion and development of a National Health Outcomes Database, the Kanter Family Foundation will publish news of the work that we and others are doing to create this revolutionary tool for improving the quality of health care.
In his book "Demanding Medical Excellence," author Michael L. Millenson writes that "as many as eight out of ten medical practices have never been scientifically validated." The Kanter Family Foundation¹s mission is to improve health care decision-making by giving people treatment information that is based on scientific research.

To achieve this goal, the Kanter Family Foundation is working to develop a national database on evidence-based medicine and health outcomes research. Patients and health care providers will use this data to make better informed decisions about how to treat illnesses.

HELP Partnership with AHRQ

Working together in an historic government-private venture called the Health Legacy Partnership (HELP), the Kanter Family Foundation and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) are jointly exploring the feasibility of a National Health Outcomes Database that patients and doctors can use to determine which treatments work best for specific diseases and conditions.

HELP Conference Propels Drive for Outcomes Database

On Oct. 30, more than 200 leading health care researchers, academicians, disease organizations and government officials gathered at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., to discuss plans for developing a demonstration health database project.

Hosts for this inaugural HELP Conference were Kanter Family Foundation President Joseph H. Kanter and Dr. John M. Eisenberg, the Director of AHRQ.

Kanter announced that his foundation would earmark an additional $1 million for development of a prototype of the database and for programs to communicate its impact to disease organizations, physicians, and policy makers.

"In 1863," Dr. Eisenberg said, "Florence Nightingale identified the need for comprehensive data on health care outcomes. If she came back today, she would be entitled to ask Œwhat have you been doing for the past 137 years?¹ I hope we aren¹t asking in 137 years from now: why didn¹t we listen to Joe Kanter?"

Kanter stated, "Nothing is so powerful as an idea whose time has come. Today is the information age. New technology permits us to produce, collect, organize and store important data. We can develop a National Health Outcomes Database now."

Newly Published: A Guide to Help Patients

The first cooperative venture of the Health Legacy Partnership is a recently released Patient Guide ‹ a step-by-step resource for people who have been diagnosed with an illness. The Guide is titled, "Now You Have a Diagnosis: What's Next? Using Health Care Information to Help Make Treatment Decisions." Read the Guide at http://www.ahcpr.gov/consumer/diaginfo.htm
The Guide is also available in booklet form; contact AHRQ or the Kanter Family Foundation to request copies.

Experts Convene to Offer Advice on Database

In October 1999 and again in April 2000, the Health Legacy Partnership brought a group of distinguished experts from around the country to Rockville, Md., to provide advice and assistance on the development of a National Health Outcomes Database.
Dr. Carolyn M. Clancy, Director of AHRQ¹s Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research, asked the experts at the October meeting to "identify strategies for building an information network that would provide evidence-based health information when it's needed."
In his opening remarks to the experts, Joe Kanter acknowledged the difficulty of creating an outcomes database. But he urged those in attendance to meet the challenge with a can-do spirit, ever mindful of how a database could benefit public health. "It is not our responsibility to complete this project," said Kanter, "but it is our responsibility to start this database."
Kanter said that the experts "concluded that the technological capacity and the medical expertise is already available, and that we should begin a pilot program immediately."

Education and Outreach

In December 1999, the Kanter Family Foundation launched a website that carries news about the effort to establish a National Health Outcomes Database.

To promote a broader understanding of the importance of evidence-based health treatment, the Foundation will give a monetary award to a journalist or other communications professional who has created the best communications piece for patients and health care professionals on the subject of evidence-based treatment outcomes.

The Foundation In the News

The Foundation's work has been the subject of recent articles in the Los Angeles Times and The Hill newspaper of Washington, D.C. The L.A. Times described Joe Kanter as a "wealthy businessman from Century City, looking to apply his golden touch to the nation¹s health care system. Kanter, who made his first fortune in real estate and then launched a successful banking career, wants to work with the federal government to establish a National Health Outcomes Database."
The Hill article described the Health Legacy Partnership as a "cooperative, nonprofit venture that aims to fight disease by creating a National Health Outcomes Database."

We Welcome Your Thoughts

Please share with us your expertise and views on developing a National Health Outcomes Database. If you have friends or family with health problems, let them know they can help us improve medical care by supporting a National Health Outcomes Database.

If you are a physician with interest in participating in a National Health Outcomes Database, click on http://www.nhdb.net/popup.html
Send e-mail to HELP@nhdb.net.
Write the Kanter Family Foundation at 1851 Mintwood Place, Washington, D.C. 20009.
Call (202) 638-KNTR (5687), or fax (202) 638-5686.

The Kanter Family Foundation is a member of the National Health Council

The Health Legacy Partnership (HELP)
HELP is an initiative of the Kanter Family Foundation in consultation with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

Report from the National Health Outcomes Conference

Find out more about the National Health Outcomes Database on the web at www.nhdb.net