Interoperability

Now that almost all U.S. hospital are using electronic health records, the industry is ready for the next phase of information sharing, improved outcomes and collecting the digital dividend.

Half of hospitals routinely use patient information received electronically from other providers, which National Coordinator Karen DeSalvo, MD said is an indication of how far the healthcare industry has come for both patients and clinicians.

Simplified regulations around MACRA meaningful use could address the loss of efficiency and usefulness of electronic health records software to enable more flexibility for the doctors using them, said Shawn Griffin, MD, of Memorial Hermann Physician Network.

With meaningful use winding down, Poulton urged other EHR makers to work on technologies that enable providers to be more effective in the changing world or healthcare. 

In a $36 million contract with Philips, the hospital system is working to improve the collection and management of patient data to standardize clinical practices and enable interoperability with other systems.

The advisory committee said that the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT should accelerate the definition and standards for President Obama's PMI and Patient-Generated Health Data. 

HIMSS16 Social Media Ambassadors John Lynn and Shahid Shah exchange opinions on the state of interoperability and patient care. Part of the Social Media Debates series hosted by Beth Jones Sanborn, Managing Editor of Healthcare Finance. Watch HIMSS16 SMAs debate meaningful use

The Oregon-based network said the new electronic health record system will help it improve care quality and coordination.

Lake Health, with 14 facilities, staffed by more than 600 physicians and 2,700 healthcare professionals, will be rolling out a Cerner EHR. The goal: support the Lake Health system and its employed providers, as well as create greater integration with its community physician network and to provide the best patient experience possible. Also, patients will benefit from a single health record accessible from a patient portal. “A strong relationship with our medical staff is the cornerstone of who we are, evidenced by their role in our mission and vision statements and in working with us to provide high-quality patient and family-centered health care in Lake County,” Jerry Peters, VP and CIO for Lake Health, said in a statement. The EHR will enable the health system to share and receive patient health records with affiliated providers, other area hospitals and participating healthcare entities nationally. Patient data is produced, managed and stored across multiple care organizations in Lake County, Peters noted, and Lake Health was focused on selecting an IT platform that could collect and analyze data from multiple disparate systems. “Lake Health determined that Cerner’s EHR and Healthelntent population health management platforms were the best choice to support its future initiatives and business model,” Peters said. “Understanding that this investment would most likely shape the future of Lake Health and the care we provide to patients, we completed a thorough evaluation of leading health IT suppliers and collaborated with our physicians and ultimately determined that Cerner was the right choice to support our needs now and into the future.” Peters did not reveal the anticipated cost of the technology. Cerner’s Healthelntent platform aggregates and normalizes data from various sources in near real time, regardless of EHR supplier and is designed to provide physicians and mid-level providers with meaningful data to identify and stratify populations to locate gaps in care.

King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital pointed to the implementation of InterSystems’ TrakCare health information system in helping it move from Stage 6 to Stage 7 in less than two years.