The Committee for Economic Development (CED) is an independent, non-partisan research organization with a trustee list dominated by corporations (not that there’s anything wrong with that — my own funders, the Pew Charitable Trusts, are also listed on the CED site). CED recently released an engaging report entitled, “Harnessing Openness to Transform American Health Care” (PDF).

Here’s a quote from Chapter 6: Expanding Openness for Patients and Caregivers:

“Viewed through the lens of openness, patients are not only the beneficiaries of increased access to information but they are among the most important sources of information for the healthcare system.”

If that doesn’t convince you to click through and read the study, here are some other opinions.

Project HealthDesign’s Lygeia Ricciardi had an advance copy of the report back in October and led her post with a quote I also liked: “Given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.” This is proof that I’m not the only one to read marginalia as closely as the main text — the quote only appeared in the End Notes, which are extensive. Not surprisingly, a report with “openness” in its title has kind words for the Public Library of Science publications (is it any wonder that PLoS Medicine‘s email alerts are so much more engaging than those from New England Journal of Medicine?)

Jane Sarasohn-Kahn blogged about the study on Health Populi (again, read the comments as closely as you read her text).

It is also well worth reading Bob Laszewski’s blog, Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review, which damns a previous CED health care study with faint praise.