In December, we asked our readers to tell us about the health care problems they felt were most in need of innovation—the tough problems, the crucial ones, maybe even those they’d seen firsthand. The number of comments we received was encouraging. It has also challenged our thinking, and generated a great deal of discussion on our team.

One thing is certain: The conversation that ensued from that post confirmed that our team needs to do more listening—listening to patients, caregivers, health care professionals, innovators, thought leaders—the list goes on and on.

We saw some common themes in the problems you shared. A few of them are reflected in areas in which the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is already working. Clearly there are problems that, despite the intensive efforts of many really smart people, resist conventional solutions. Other themes showed us how important it is to always be examining what we’re doing from perspectives other than our own. 

So where do we go from here?  

A little more than 13 years ago, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released its seminal report on patient safety, To Err is Human.  You can say that again. We humans sure do err.  It seems to be in our very nature.  We err individually and in groups—with or without technology.  We also do some incredible things together.  Like flying jets across continents and building vast networks of communication and learning—and like devising and delivering nothing- short-of-miraculous health care that can embrace the ill and fragile among us, cure them, and send them back to their loved ones.  Those same amazing, complex accomplishments, though, are at their core, human endeavors.  As such, they are inherently vulnerable to our errors and mistakes.  As we know, in high-stakes fields, like aviation and health care, those mistakes can compound into catastrophically horrible results.  The IOM report highlighted how the human error known in health care adds up to some mindboggling numbers of injured and dead patients—obviously a monstrous result that nobody intends.

The IOM safety report also didn’t just sound the alarm; it recommended a number of sensible things the nation should do to help manage human error. It included things like urging leaders to foster a national focus on patient safety, develop a public mandatory reporting system for medical errors, encourage complementary voluntary reporting systems, raise performance expectations and standards, and, importantly, promote a culture of safety in the health care workforce. 

Amanda E. Staiano, PhD, MPP, Research Fellow, Pennington Biomedical Research Center

Can video games help kids move more and even lose weight?  Long blamed for promoting an unhealthy, sedentary lifestyle, video games are gaining a new reputation—by offering opportunities for enhanced physical activity.

Exergames, which are video games that require physical exertion, are popular among children and adults alike. The Children’s Digital Media Center at Georgetown University received a grant from Health Games Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, to investigate the game design principles that might make exergames effective physical activity and weight loss tools. Professor Sandra Calvert of the Department of Psychology at Georgetown University served as the principal investigator and was joined by myself and Dr. Anisha Abraham of Georgetown University Medical Center as co-investigators.  The exciting results were recently published online in the journal Obesity.

Forty years ago, smallpox still existed. We hadn’t heard the acronyms HIV or AIDS. The Nixon administration had declared war on cancer and was about to introduce America to the health maintenance organization, aka HMO. Meanwhile, a couple of paramedics on a TV show called “Emergency!” and a new philanthropy, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, were introducing the nation to the life-saving concept of 911 and another acronym: EMS (emergency medical services).

Four decades later, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care, and we are still in the business of searching for solutions that will improve the health and health care of millions. As the Foundation marks its 40th anniversary this week, we remain committed not only to proven, evidence-based strategies, but also to new ideas that push boundaries.

Pioneer is dedicated to creating the places and spaces where innovative, forward-thinking ideas are hatched and cultivated. That's why we are excited to partner with WIRED magazine to explore how real-time, real-world data can lead us to better health at Living by Numbers, WIRED's first-ever health conference on October 15 and 16 in New York City.

What are the opportunities for bringing data into real-time decision-making for health and health care? How can individually generated, real-world data transform research or clinical care and lead to better health? Living by Numbers will bring 200 innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers, and thought leaders together to have a vigorous and open discussion across sectors—to generate ideas and help them take hold. It is also an opportunity for the tech sector to see the power and influence their tools and expertise can have on the field of health and health care.