You may have heard the word “interoperability” more recently, particularly because we’re reaching a critical mass in terms of healthcare providers who are using EMR software.According to HealthIT.gov, “EHR Interoperability … improves the delivery of health care by making the right data available at the right time to the right people.”
The site goes on to define EHR software interoperability standards as including four areas of EHR technology:
• How applications interact with users (such as e-prescribing)
• How systems communicate with each other (such as messaging standards)
• How information is processed and managed (such as health information exchange)
• How consumer devices integrate with other systems and applications (such as tablet PCs)
What interoperability boils down to is being able to share medical information as needed between various IT systems and products (such as electronic medical records software) to improve patient care.
Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?
Unfortunately, although most stakeholders seem to agree that we need it, the healthcare ecosystem doesn’t seem to know how to get there, and it’s been a very piecemeal process so far.
As of now, the ONC expects the healthcare IT industry to solve the problem, but hasn’t defined how the industry is going to achieve the goals for interoperability described above. Leaving it up to EHR vendors along with others in the industry, Doug Fridsma, MD, PhD, ONC’s chief science officer, said in an interview in Medpage Today, that “If we work with the industry, they can not only take ownership of the problem, but be part of the solution.”
How’s that working out?
At least in theory, requirements for Meaningful Use Stage 2 certified EHRs allow healthcare providers to send Protected Health Information (PHI) securely to other providers such as specialists, labs, hospitals, etc. In reality, most community-based physicians are not currently able to accomplish this for several reasons, including their referrals not being set up with secure messaging, their server-based EHR software not being updated, etc.
However, there have been some encouraging tests and studies lately that show progress toward interoperability.
A select few EHRs, including HealthFusion’s MediTouch, were invited by Surescripts, the most comprehensive clinical health information network in the country, to demonstrate secure data exchange between disparate EHRs in a successful landmark showcase event that demonstrated the secure exchange of patient records via the Direct Method email protocol recently at the HIMSS 2014 conference in February.
HealthFusion is also pleased to announce that we have recently successfully completed a real-time data exchange between Miami Children’s Hospital’s (MCH) hospital information system and the P.E.D.S. EHR Office Edition Electronic Medical Records based on HealthFusion’s MediTouch EHR.
Dr. Sol Lizerbram, Chairman and co-founder of HealthFusion, said that both organizations hope this successful information exchange will address some of the frustrations expressed by healthcare providers regarding access to patient data.
In the meantime, there is more work to be done to achieve interoperability. To stay updated, visit our blog at http://www.healthfusion.com/blog/.
