Interoperability: Let's talk solutions

We've written a lot about the interoperability problem in FierceHealthIT--in fact, I wrote about it in this space just last month. In that column, I outlined many of the barriers to interoperability and the consequences of not sharing healthcare data. 

It's easy to talk about the barriers, frankly. A bit tougher to offer actionable strategies for moving closer to a day when data and information flow freely across systems.

In FierceHealthIT's latest free eBook, Interoperability: The Path To Management and Standardizing Health Data, we explore some of the ways healthcare organizations across the U.S. are tackling the issue--sharing healthcare data not only with each other but also with their patients, leading to better care, reducing costly duplicative testing and meeting data-sharing requirements of the Meaningful Use incentive program.  

The providers featured in this eBook have gone beyond merely gathering data to tackle some of the most challenging aspects of data-sharing, such as creating effective, successful health information exchanges that both push and pull information.

And although electronic health records are the right thing to do, the unfulfilled promise of them has taunted healthcare organizations. We know providers can use health data to reduce readmissions, tackle the most costly and complicated chronic conditions and compare patient outcomes in order to personalize care.

And then there's image-sharing. Large networks and major medical centers create hundreds of thousands of images each year. New solutions highlighted in the eBook simplify image-sharing with patients, enable other institutions to import images and supports using images for research and education.

Finally, we take a deep dive into the interoperability issue with a case study on Carolinas HealthCare, which integrated unstructured and structured patient data to increase provider efficiency and treatment effectiveness. You can read an excerpt of that case study in today's issue of FierceHealthIT: How Carolinas HealthCare uses quality patient data to boost disease management. Check it out and let me know what you think. Gienna (@Gienna and @FierceHealthIT)