A new column from the Commonwealth Fund’s president serves as a reminder that just about every candidate for president wants to spend government money, time, and effort to develop health information technology. Many individual hospitals and practices are already moving in this direction and grocers were able to do this ages ago. The auto industry also has developed the ability to share data across platforms. Right now, almost everything in health care is based on Medicare’s standards. A larger role for individual consumers would make efforts already under way a higher priority for providers, insurers, and others in the industry.