Interoperability
The Department of Veterans Affairs has tapped HP Enterprise Services and Intelligent InSites for a $543 million contract to deploy real-time locating system technology in VA medical centers nationwide.
When asked what a powerful health information exchange (HIE) is built upon, one might immediately think of computer accounts, files upon files of paper medical reports converted into megabytes, laptop, screens and data synapses sparking the air between them.
With numerous electronic health record systems continuing to fall short of providers' expectations, a report by Black Book Rankings suggests that 2013 may indeed be the "year of the great EHR vendor switch."
One thing I've learned in the government is that words matter, and sometimes, particularly in complicated or technical areas, it can be hard to use words that are precise and accurate.
It was a task that extended beyond hammers and nails. After the blow of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the greater New Orleans area was faced with the challenge of rebuilding its internal public health structure - beyond the material repair of roofs and floors, waiting rooms and patient rooms.
Healthcare IT insiders regard interoperability as the key to effective health information exchange, and some might say, the hardest to pin down thus far. Industry leaders agree there can be no true exchange without interoperability. How can healthcare transformation occur unless doctor A's EHR can process the information received from doctor B's EHR?
Described by one participant as "the greatest assembly of engineering talent in one room," the IHE North American Connectathon strove hard to advance healthcare interoperability to new levels during demonstrations held in January.
Multiple models of health information exchange are at work, with varying degrees of success. At least one critic calls the nationwide network of HIEs an "unmitigated disaster," while proponents in the trenches say it will take time for the the systems and standards to mature, and also to work through some very complicated issues, policy and governance among them.
Anyone who understands the importance of continuity of care knows that health information exchange is essential. How are we supposed to cut waste and duplication from the healthcare system and truly focus on patient welfare if doctor B has no idea what tests doctor A conducted, or what the results were?
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) announced late Tuesday that its board has selected Colorado Health Medical Group's Russell P. Branzell to serve as its new president and chief executive officer.