PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa.- Understanding the uses of "big data" in healthcare is not something decision-makers should leave to others. Big data, the process of examining large amounts of data of a variety of types to uncover hidden patterns, correlations and other useful information, is gaining a foothold in healthcare. The key to understanding what big data is useful for, how reliable it is, and how far it has spread, requires separating facts from fads.

ECRI Institute's 20th Annual Conference on the Use of Evidence in Policy and Practice, Data BIG and Small: What Healthcare Decision Makers are Using Now, seeks to understand how big data is being used in many key areas of healthcare.

This free public service conference will be held November 13-14, 2013 in Washington, DC, at the National Academy of Sciences at 2101 Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC 20418; advance registration is required as space is limited.

"Big data is BIG news. As health professionals, we have an obligation to sort through the hype about big data and know what is real," says Jeffrey C. Lerner, PhD, president and CEO, ECRI Institute. "Our speakers and cosponsors have done an extraordinary job helping us develop a program that explores the key elements in understanding where we are now and where big data can take us."

35 distinguished speakers are confirmed, including Ralph Muller, chief executive officer, University of Pennsylvania Health System; Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA, president and chief executive officer, Partners HealthCare; Glenn D. Steele Jr., MD, PhD, president and chief executive officer, Geisinger Health System; Joe V. Selby, MD, executive director, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute; Nirav R. Shah, MD, New York State Commissioner of Health Troyen A. Brennan, MD, MPH, JD, executive vice president and chief medical officer, CVS Caremark Corporation; Brent James, MD, MStat, chief quality officer and executive director, Institute for Health Care Delivery Research, Intermountain Healthcare; Patrick Conway, MD, MSc, chief medical officer, Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services; director, Center for Clinical Standards and Quality, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services; Murray Ross, PhD, vice president, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, and Director, Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy; Stephan D. Fihn, MD, MPH, director, Office of Analytics and Business Intelligence, VA Puget Sound Health Care System; Robert L. Jesse, MD, PhD, principal deputy under secretary for health, United States Department of Veterans Affairs; Terhilda Garrido, MPH, vice president, Health Information Technology Transformation & Analytics, Kaiser Permanente; William B. Munier, MD, PhD, director, Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Jonathan B. Perlin, MD, PhD, president, clinical services and chief medical officer, HCA, Inc.; Steve G. Peters, MD, vice chief medical information officer, Mayo Clinic; and Larry Norton, MD, deputy physician-in-chief for breast cancer programs; medical director, Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center; Norna S. Sarofim Chair in Clinical Oncology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Panel-based sessions will address how big data is impacting crucial areas of healthcare, including health systems, public and private sectors, providers, payers, patient safety, healthcare quality and cost, and population health, among others. Question-and-answer sessions will give attendees the opportunity to participate in the conversation.

Senior leaders from Kaiser Permanente, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History, the University of Pennsylvania Health System, the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, AcademyHealth, the Bipartisan Policy Center, Health Affairs, and the Milbank Memorial Fund played key roles in planning the program intended for multiple healthcare constituencies, including payers and providers, policymakers, researchers, industry, government regulators, and consumer groups.

ECRI Institute is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. Application will be made for Pennsylvania CLE credit and nursing credits, too. Visit the CME/CLE site for details.

There is no fee to attend this conference, but space is limited and early registration is strongly recommended. ECRI Institute will offer live updates from the event on Twitter at #EIConf13. Press credentials are available for those wishing to cover the conference or interview presenters. For conference details and to register, visit https://www.ecri.org/2013conf.

For additional information, contact ECRI Institute by e-mail at communications@ecri.org, call Laurie Menyo, director of public relations, at (610) 825-6000, ext. 5310, or write to 5200 Butler Pike, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462.

ECRI Institute (www.ecri.org), a nonprofit organization, dedicates itself to bringing the discipline of applied scientific research to healthcare to discover which medical procedures, devices, drugs, and processes are best to enable improved patient care. As pioneers in this science for 45 years, ECRI Institute marries experience and independence with the objectivity of evidence-based research. Strict conflict-of-interest guidelines ensure objectivity. ECRI Institute is designated an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. ECRI Institute PSO is listed as a federally certified Patient Safety Organization by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Find ECRI Institute on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ECRIInstitute) and on Twitter (www.twitter.com/ECRI_Institute).

SOURCE ECRI Institute