Interoperability In Healthcare

Describe how the recommended system will impact patient care and documentation. The core of care delivery and documentation is shifting to new technology innovations and developments. Stakeholders are in need of systems that contribute to improved health outcomes. Interoperability between technologies is vital to start the meaningful process change. However, divisive systems add to the complexity of health care management. Therefore, EHRs must have the correct architecture to drive value from all clinical information systems continuously. Strategic interoperability contributes to the systemic improvement of healthcare. Health care organizations can ultimately make fundamental shifts in population health with the use of interoperable technology coupled with meaningful process change.

Two of these barriers are lack of interoperability (the ability to exchange information) among computer systems and privacy issues. The Markle Foundation fosters collaboration in both private and public sectors through an initiative called Connecting to Health, which seeks to improve patient care by promoting standards for electronic medical information. In addition, the Markle Foundation has provided information and promoted meaningful use and the development of HIEs

Two organizations migrating to a common health information system would need a system that meets current regulatory requirements, meets the needs of the combined organization and their practice environment. The implementation of a common health information system would require an interdisciplinary group of forward thinking innovators, and an interoperable electronic medical record system that includes standard nursing terminology.

Interoperability is the way information is shared across an organization. Sharing information across all avenues of health care is imperative to quality patient care. Coordination between all members of the health care team can occur through a congruent system, eliminating unnecessary phone calls and paper work that take away from patient care. The sharing of information electronically reduces the likelihood that files could be lost or stolen which creates a liability for all those involved in the care of the patient.

The benefits of interoperability are discussed from many years relating its facilities regarding government and population. Interoperability is significant in linking health and human services to

Utilize health information professionals and practice to ensure compliance with health data structures, standards and content.

Healthcare systems are highly complex, fragmented, and use multiple information technology systems and vendors who incorporate different standards resulting in inefficiency, waste, and medical errors (Healthinformatics, 2016). A patient 's medical information often gets trapped in silos, which prevents information from being shared with members of the healthcare community (Healthinformatics, 2016). With increasing healthcare costs, a system needed to be created that would lead to the development and nationwide implementation of an interoperable health information technology system to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare. Introducing the National Health Information Network (NHIN), this organization can be defined as a set of

The passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act encouraged and mandated the use of health information exchange (HIE) technology in the healthcare industry. The time had finally come to enter into the electronic age, and learn how to integrate electronic health records (EHRs) into their environment. Evolution and revolution are never easy, and several issues will arise during the transition. As EHR utilization spread through healthcare organizations, problems with interoperability became evident. How could healthcare organizations successfully achieve interoperability, and collect consistent patient data? A data dictionary may be the key to unlocking an accurate and efficient HIE.

Health Information Exchange is the electronic movement of healthcare information amongst organizations according to the national standards. HIE as it is widely known, serves the purpose of providing a safe, timely, and efficient way of accessing or retrieving patient clinical data. Health Information Exchange allows for doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other vital healthcare professionals to have appropriate access and securely share vital medical information regarding patient care. Health Information Exchange has been in efforts of developing for over 20 years in the United States. In 1990 the Community Health Management Information Systems (CHMIS) program was formed by the Hartford Foundation to foster a development of a centralized data repository in seven different geographically defined communities. Many of the communities struggled in securing a cost-effective technology with interoperable data sources and gaining political support. In the mid-1990s a similar initiative began known as the Community Health Information Networks (CHINs) with the intention of sharing data between providers in a more cost-effective manner. In 2004, the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research Health Information Technology Portfolio was funded $166 million in grants and contracts to improve the quality and safety to support more patient-centered care. This was the beginning of the progress we have seen in HIE today. Health Information Exchange devolvement serves the purpose of improving

Health information technology (HIT) involves trading of health information in an electronic format to advance health care, reduce health expenditures, improve work efficiency, decrease medication errors, and make health care more accessible. Maintaining privacy and security of health information is crucial when technology is involved. Health information exchange plays an important role in improving the quality and delivery of health care and cost-effectiveness. “There is very little electronic information sharing among clinicians, hospitals, and other providers, despite considerable investments in health information technology (IT) over the past five years” (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2014, p. 1).

Brailer (2005) acknowledges that a sizeable number of citizens receive treatment from multiple providers at a time. Interoperability is a gateway for many business ventures in healthcare to accommodate for patients being admitted in multiple provider organizations. All healthcare professionals, especially managers, must communicate effectively. A good example of interoperability is transformation of electronic medical records, or recruiting physician specialists to operate on a specific procedure (Hellberg & Gronlund, 2013).

Connecting for Health and Care for the Nation: A Shared Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap, Draft Version 1.0 (Roadmap) is an initial attempt by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) to define a path for health information interoperability by the year 2020. The Roadmap spans 166 pages and encompasses five building blocks;

In health care, patients’ lives are in the hands of the health care practitioners, health care organizations, insurance companies, and to some degree, even health care technology. The growth and future implications of evidence-based medicine (EBM) through improvement of technology in health care are important today, because health care practitioners and organizations want to ultimately decrease cost, improve quality of care, and increase access to health care (Glandon, Smaltz, & Slovensky, 2014, p. 28). One way to achieve these goals is through the implementation and improvement of EBM and interoperability which will enhance the efficiency of work production resulting in these positive outcomes. According to Glandon, Smaltz, and Slovensky (2014), EBM is an “information management and learning strategy that seeks to integrate clinical expertise with the best evidence available to make effective clinical decisions that will ultimately improve patient care,” (p. 6). “Interoperability is the ability of different information and communications technology systems and software applications to communicate, to exchange data accurately, effectively, and consistently, and to use information that has been exchanged,” (Iroju, Soriyan, Gambo, & Olaleke, 2013, para. 1). Without interoperability and EBM, fundamental data and information such as patient records cannot be easily shared across and within enterprises having a direct impact on the quality of care. It

As the implementation of electronic health records (EHR) progress nationwide, the concepts of interoperability and health information exchange (HIE) must be discussed. The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (2005, p. 2) define interoperability as “the ability of health information systems to work together within and across organizational boundaries in order to advance the effective delivery of healthcare for individuals and communities.” Interoperability is the enabling of two systems, including those that do not share

Interoperability will be difficult to achieve, that is for certain. Though the healthcare system has managed to overcome many challenges, however, there is still a lot that needs to be done. Out of these, we have compiled a list of 4 challenges that provider have to overcome, in order to achieve interoperability.