Building Learning Healthcare Systems for Critical Care Medicine

Learning healthcare systems are a new and evolving way of integrating data and technology into daily practice in health care.¹  Defined by the National Academy of Medicine (Washington, D.C.), a learning healthcare system is a system where “science, informatics, incentives, and culture are aligned for continuous improvement and innovation, with best practices seamlessly embedded in the delivery process, [with] patients and families active participants in all elements, and new knowledge captured as an integral by-product of the delivery experience.”²  They are uniquely flexible environments that center around a community of stakeholders generating, analyzing, and applying new clinical knowledge into day-to-day practice.¹  These learning health communities are comprised of not just providers and researchers, but also health system administration, patients, and other staff.¹  Within this broader ecosystem, a learning healthcare system undergoes a continuous cycle of generating and applying near real-time data into clinical practice.^1,...