By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    headphones can create health problems
    The Harmful Health Effects of Using Headphones
    September 24, 2021
    Headache causes
    4 Causes Of Headache You Probably Didn’t Know About
    December 28, 2021
    follow these steps to recover from your injury
    What Steps Should You Take to Recover More Quickly from an Injury?
    April 12, 2022
    Latest News
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    private
    Private Exchanges: Getting Ready for Individual Health Insurance to Be the Standard
    January 9, 2014
    valueable healthcare programs
    5 Most Valuable Healthcare Programs in 2023
    March 8, 2023
    Johnson & Johnson to Release Clinical Trial Data in Agreement with Yale Medical School
    February 4, 2014
    Latest News
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Interoperability of Electronic Health Data: Is It Time to Herd Unicorns in a New Direction?
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > eHealth > Medical Records > Interoperability of Electronic Health Data: Is It Time to Herd Unicorns in a New Direction?
eHealthMedical RecordsTechnology

Interoperability of Electronic Health Data: Is It Time to Herd Unicorns in a New Direction?

Bill Crounse
Bill Crounse
Share
6 Min Read
SHARE

While most of the Information Technology world was focused on Apple this week (okay, even I had one monitor tuned to their live stream), those of us who pay most of our attention to the enterprise Health IT community were reading the latest news on such mundane topics as health data interoperability, Meaningful Use, the HITECH ACT, and EMR/HIS adoption in hospitals and clinics. It was in that realm that I came across a recent article by John R. Graham of the conservative think-tank group known as the National Center for Policy Analysis.

While most of the Information Technology world was focused on Apple this week (okay, even I had one monitor tuned to their live stream), those of us who pay most of our attention to the enterprise Health IT community were reading the latest news on such mundane topics as health data interoperability, Meaningful Use, the HITECH ACT, and EMR/HIS adoption in hospitals and clinics. It was in that realm that I came across a recent article by John R. Graham of the conservative think-tank group known as the National Center for Policy Analysis. The article, “Interoperability” of Electronic Health Data is a Unicorn reviews the progress, or rather the lack of progress, in getting electronic medical record solutions to talk to one another. The article calls into question, as you might expect considering the source, on whether or not US taxpayers are getting their money’s worth for the $26 billion shelled out so far to help doctors and hospitals implement and “meaningfully use” electronic records. 

There has been the considerable uptick in the use of EMRs since 2009 (now about 48 percent of all physicians and 44 percent of all hospitals according to a report in Health Policy Briefs ) due to the investment of federal dollars. I would have to agree, however, that the health industry is far from achieving any significant degree of meaningful interoperability between or among hospital and physician record keeping systems. Just try to get your medical record transferred from one institution to another if they happen to use different EMR solutions. But I wouldn’t go so far as to say the investment of federal dollars has been wasted. I mean, what’s the alternative to electronic medical records? Clearly in 2014 we wouldn’t advocate keeping something as important as our medical records on paper anymore, would we? What other industry does that? However, I do think the approach to what is commonly called Health Information Exchange is all wrong, and I’ve written on that topic before. Primarily I believe the current approach is all wrong because it doesn’t put patients at the center.

EHR adoptionConnecting everything to everything else in the ecosystem we call healthcare is extraordinarily complex. Furthermore, as the NCPA article points out, there really isn’t much of an incentive for hospitals and doctors to freely share data on their patients. However, most organizations and clinicians would agree to share data with the patient, who after all, is the person the data is about. So instead of connecting everything to everything, let’s connect everything (or even a subset of everything) to the patient.

More Read

Jewish Home Lifecare Partners with eCaring to Demonstrate Effectiveness of Home Care Management System for Elderly Home Care Patients
118 Twitter Feeds Every Food Activist Needs to Follow
Introducing the Health “Prosumer”
The PCMH and Home Care Data: An Interview with Melissa McCormack
How Technology Can Aid Independence in Seniors Life

I like HIE models that put patients at the center. Even if we start quite simply with a storage site for patient demographic information, payer information, current allergies, medical problem list and current medications, we would be far ahead of where we are today. A secure, cloud-based solution, under the patient’s direct control is far more optimal to my way of thinking than the aspirational and likely not achievable idea of creating pipelines of bi-directional, free-flowing health data between every hospital, clinic, doctor’s office, lab, imaging center, and more with the patient nowhere in the mix. If each of us had a secure place to store and access our own information, and the ability to share it with whoever needs to see it, we would have an HIE without boundaries. My information would be available from just about anywhere I might be.

With today’s announcements from Apple about the company’s new eye on health, and equally compelling solutions like Microsoft’s own HealthVault, as well as other such models for HIE and health-information sharing that will likely be forthcoming, I’ve got to believe that the federal government’s investment in electronic medical records will pay off in the long run. And since the stated goal or purpose of the so-called HITECH Act is to lower healthcare costs, improve access to care and the outcomes of care, it seems pretty clear that we can’t do any of that unless health data is electronic, accessible, and measurable (think analytics). With EMRs we are laying the foundation that is needed for everything else that follows. But I have to agree that the current state of interoperability is a bit like chasing unicorns. I think it is time to herd them in a new direction.

TAGGED:EHRHealth ITHIE
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

engineer fitting prosthetic arm
How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
Health care
August 20, 2025
a woman explaining the document
How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
Public Health
August 20, 2025
physiotherapist at work
How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
Health care
August 20, 2025
Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs
7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
Health News
August 20, 2025

You Might also Like

eHealthMedical RecordsTechnology

What is the Difference between EMR and EHR?

February 1, 2018

Would You Trade Places with Your Physician?

January 28, 2014
MarketingTechnology

Importance Of CRM Software In The Healthcare Industry

July 11, 2019

Life Sciences Venture Investing Outperformed Tech Venture Investing Over the Past Decade

July 12, 2011
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?