Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) want to know how the government can facilitiate and improve data transparency. In a letter written Thursday to nearly 100 stakeholder groups and individuals, they posed questions about how data transparency could possibly benefit their work. The letter states that digital data storage has increased dramatically in the last 14 years. In 2000, 25 percent of the world's info was stored digitally, while today, that percentage is at 98, they wrote. The senators also note that healthcare-related data has huge potential for use by consumers, and that state and federal entitites must take steps to improve data transparency. Among several questions, they ask, "what reforms would help reduce the unnecessary fragmentation of healthcare data? What reforms would improve the accessibility and usability of healthcare data for consumers, payer and providers?" Letter (.pdf)