Future directions for translational informatics

In order to realize the great promise of knowledge-driven healthcare, we must capitalize upon the advances in translational informatics made to date. While some of the necessary technological infrastructure is now in place or actively being implemented, and while the drive to leverage that infrastructure is strong in many sectors of society, there remain many challenges to realizing the vision of translational informatics and thereby substantial improvements in healthcare and biomedicine. In addition to improving the design and optimizing the use of health information technologies, myriad organizational, cultural and regulatory changes are needed to fully realize this vision. Only by so doing, will we as a society finally be able to create and leverage information ecosystems that are efficient and effective at simultaneously advancing not only the practice of evidence-based medicine, but the systematic generation of evidence at every point in the healthcare and biomedical research lifecycle. Indeed, such changes are essential to creating a true “learning health system” that drives not only more effective care while accelerating scientific advances, but does so in a manner that is both affordable today and sustainable for the benefit of the entire population well into the future.