The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) recently held its annual meeting and issued new guidelines for interoperability among electronic health record (EHR) systems. The ultimate goal is to make electronic health data flow seamlessly and securely where and when it is needed, thus enabling providers to deliver high-quality care to patients. National Coordinator Dr. Karen DeSalvo rightly focused on the 3C’s for data sharing: Common Standards, Culture Change and a Business Case.
Common standards already exist, but there is still far too much latitude in how vendors structure their database schema, which prevents complete and full interchange of all the data entered into a system. A lot of critical information—such as exam notes, radiology images, and referral letters—is not covered by the Consolidated Clinical Document Architecture (C-CDA), an XML-based markup standard that transfers basic demographics, plus medication, allergy and problem lists. Standards need to be strengthened to allow providers to get deeper into the data.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
Cultural change took a major step forward with the ONC’s new transparency requirements. Buyers of technology can now access information about the costs and limitations of certified health IT products. The new website will discourage information blocking and create clear incentives for developers to focus on the quality and usability of their products.
The business case for interoperability must come from individual providers because the HIT industry has no incentive to make it easier to switch systems, and hospitals have no financial motive to share patient admission and discharge information with primary care physicians. Easily sharing patient data within a referral network of specialists and primary care, however, has a real benefit to providers. This is the business case that will drive EHR systems along the road to interoperability.
Photo: Flickr user John Lemieux
