Interoperability in Healthcare: Challenges, Innovations, and the Road Ahead

Interoperability, the seamless connection of various healthcare systems and applications, is the linchpin of modern healthcare. It enhances patient care coordination, trims healthcare expenses, and minimizes errors. Indeed, the future of healthcare hinges on interoperability.

Efforts to achieve interoperability began in the 1970s when the American Hospital Association (AHA) pioneered the Health Level Seven (HL7) standard for exchanging electronic health records (EHRs). Today, this standard remains foundational. Interoperability comes in three primary types, each advancing data exchange and interpretation capabilities.

Despite four decades of digital progress, hurdles persist on the path to interoperability. However, concerted public and private initiatives are poised to conquer these challenges, painting a brighter future for healthcare interoperability than ever before.

What Healthcare Interoperability Levels Are There?

Healthcare interoperability fosters the seamless integration and interaction of diverse healthcare systems and software. Thus, data can be seamlessly exchanged and utilized. By harmonizing health information system operations, interoperability breaks down organizational barriers. As a result, healthcare improves patient outcomes through faster and more cost-efficient operations.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) categorizes interoperability into three tiers:

1. Foundational interoperability. This basic level enables data exchange in a fundamental format, utilizing common data formats like HL7 and JSON.
2. Structural interoperability lays the interoperability foundation. It standardizes the data exchange structure, further enhancing compatibility.
3. Semantic interoperability: At the highest level, it guarantees the meaningful use of exchanged information, emphasizing shared data interpretation.

Carequality and CommonWell Health Alliance: Advancing Interoperability

Carequality, a national interoperability framework, fosters seamless connectivity among health information networks. It enables healthcare providers, health systems, and Electronic Health Record (EHR) vendors to exchange data effortlessly. On top of that, Carequality sets the stage for standardized health information exchange through technical specifications, legal terms, use cases, and governance processes.

In contrast, the CommonWell Health Alliance, a non-profit trade association, is dedicated to achieving cross-vendor interoperability in healthcare. It offers practical interoperability services that securely access health data across diverse care entities. Alliance encompasses the following services:

• person enrollment
• record location
• patient identification and linking
• data query and retrieval.

In December 2016, Carequality and CommonWell Health Alliance joined forces to enhance nationwide health IT connectivity. This partnership expanded both initiatives’ reach, promoting broader health data exchange and dismantling data silos in healthcare.

Current State of Healthcare Interoperability in the U.S.

While recognizing the vital role of interoperability, the journey towards a fully connected U.S. healthcare system hasn’t been fast. Recent data exposes an intriguing divide.

Although many hospitals have adopted EHRs, only roughly half have successfully integrated external health data sources as of 2022. This signifies that health information systems are still emerging and hints at the arduous path to full-fledged interoperability.

Nevertheless, hospitals progress towards incorporating external health data, driven by regulatory efforts like the 21st Century Cures Act introduced by ONC. Initiatives like Carequality and CommonWell Health Alliance contribute to dismantling data barriers and fostering a more integrated and coordinated care landscape. However, the challenges in achieving complete interoperability in the U.S. healthcare system endure.

The Future of Healthcare Interoperability

The future of healthcare interoperability appears promising. Stakeholders join efforts and implement innovations relentlessly, primarily through the meaningful application of emerging technologies.

Envision a healthcare system where patients enjoy seamless access to their records across care institutions without concerns about information security. The healthcare providers will also benefit from such empowerment as they deliver more personalized and effective treatment.

The hottest healthcare interoperability trends are likely to be:

• Ongoing adoption of EHRs as centralized data repositories is critical for achieving interoperability.
• The emergence of new standards and technologies like FHIR and blockchain for secure and fast access to data.
• Expansion of cloud computing, facilitating data sharing and collaboration among healthcare organizations.
• Increasing emphasis on patient engagement, as individuals take a more active role in their care and demand health information access.

As these trends evolve, interoperability’s role in healthcare is set to become increasingly vital, enhancing patient care, reducing costs, and mitigating medical errors.

Overcoming Interoperability Challenges in Healthcare

Achieving interoperability in healthcare remains challenging due to many hindrances:

1. Lack of Standardization. U.S. healthcare still lacks government-approved standards that define effective communication between systems.
2. Vendor Lock-In: Dependency on a single EHR vendor restricts data exchange options, incurring switching difficulties.
3. Security and Privacy Concerns: Data exchange raises security and privacy worries, necessitating robust safeguards for patient data.
4. Complex Regulatory Landscape: Navigating state and federal healthcare regulations can be daunting, posing compliance risks.

How do companies address and overcome these challenges? Well, one way is to get help from experienced professionals.

For example, Tech-Azur specializes in digital transformation services and delivers tailored solutions for agile healthcare operations based on the following:

• Standards Adoption: Integrating HL7, FHIR, and CDA standards.
• Middleware Integration: Bridging data gaps between disparate systems using interoperability platforms.
• Technology Innovation: Leveraging cloud computing, AI, and blockchain.
• Vendor Flexibility: Advising on vendor management and open-source systems.
• Security Measures: Ensuring stringent cybersecurity and data privacy practices.
• Regulatory Compliance: Helping healthcare organizations stay updated on healthcare data exchange regulations.
• Patient Engagement: Empowering patients with health data access.

Contact Tech-Azur if you want to leverage interoperability for your organization with a customizable proprietary Health Suite.