Interoperability

The round-the-clock response of the NHS’s internal and external digital health community to COVID-19 has been more than impressive. But the ad hoc and rapid arrival of so many new applications also raises concerns about compliance and standardisation – and the role of the very unit that is supposed to be directing the operation.

The public-private partnership has been re-upped for another year as Sequoia continues to help implement and build out community support for TEFCA.

Hospitals are having a hard time reporting data to public health agencies, according to a new JAMIA study, which finds patchwork data sharing, "often occurring via fax or phone."

The Mayo clinician leading the expanded access program describes how it's managing the task of plasma collection, with hopes that COVID-19 antibodies can help other patients fight off the disease.

In addition, broader embrace of APIs and more concerted strategy for patient matching could help public health agencies combat the pandemic and boost pop health.

Let’s invest in an interoperable health data system that connects all providers, hospitals, nursing homes, insurance companies, state and local governments, public health and patients who need access to medical records.

Learning from the pandemic quickly, in order to take the digital health standard forward globally, was the sentiment voiced by leading stakeholders in a recent World Health Assembly virtual panel hosted by HIMSS.

Despite budgetary strains from the COVID-19 pandemic, a new report predicts regulatory requirements and medical-service spending growth will benefit electronic health record vendors in the years to come.

The state’s many health systems put competitive concerns aside for the greater good during a pandemic, using IT to send patients to locations that could best serve them.