How Interoperability Can Improve Patient Care

The ability of various information systems, devices, and applications to access, exchange, integrate, and use data cooperatively and in a coordinated manner is referred to as interoperability.

Interoperability In The Age Of COVID-19

We have never had a greater need for interoperability than now, in the face of the current pandemic. As our front-line clinicians become overburdened, they require immediate access to patients' medical histories, including a thorough understanding of any health conditions or medical therapies that may have an impact on outcomes. Doctors do not have time to sift through pages and pages of notes to find pertinent information. Instead, they require information that is well-organized and tailored to each individual patient and problem.

Why is interoperability important in healthcare? 

Interoperability in healthcare leads to better patient care because data can flow seamlessly across the continuum of care and be accessed by the appropriate parties when needed.  

To make interoperability more accessible and efficient, PatientMD provides an AI-driven Digital Health Platform for physicians. We provide Patient Engagement Solutions and Digital Marketing Services for practice growth. We support practices by facilitating the adoption of app-based solutions that support data interoperability. Our PatientMD App helps practices enable system interoperability. 

Here are three ways interoperability improves healthcare delivery and patient experience through better information data exchange.  

1. Reduced Medical Errors

According to the National Library of Medicine, medical errors now account for approximately 9.5 percent of all deaths in the United States. According to the analysis, medical error rates in the United States are significantly higher than in other developed countries, making finding a solution to reduce them even more urgent. Interoperability enables practices to prevent medical errors by allowing data to be shared across systems and applications. This provides care providers with a better understanding of how and why these errors occur, allowing them to take appropriate action. In the end, a lack of patient information can mean the difference between knowing about a patient's pre-existing condition and making an unintended fatal error.

2. Increased Efficiency

By 2025, the healthcare industry will significantly increase the amount of real-time data generated while also vastly improving its data readiness. Interoperable data, along with other advancements in healthcare analytics, would enable providers to quickly identify the source of a patient's problem and empower them to make faster and more informed decisions. Seamless exchange of health data will reduce not only the repetitive tasks that physicians frequently perform but also administrative tasks such as patient data entry. This will aid in the reduction of physician burnout, which will have a significant impact on the quality of care provided while also resulting in cost savings and more efficient workflows.

3. Enhanced Patient Security and Experience

When entering data such as protected health information into systems that lack intercommunication, healthcare organizations may find it difficult to track the various locations where it exists — a significant setback when seconds count. When employees expose Protected Health Information (PHI) for the sake of convenience, such as writing it down on paper to log later, organizations lose sight of where that data actually resides. This not only causes process issues but also makes organizations more vulnerable to a breach. The interoperability of EHRs/PHRs, on the other hand, provides physicians with the peace of mind that the protected health information they enter is secure. It may also benefit those receiving care by reducing or eliminating patient-facing tasks such as filling out multiple forms or explaining their medical history. As a result, faster and more accurate treatment may be possible.

How can PatientMD help? 

In a nutshell, information drives modern healthcare; documents are stored in EHR systems and organized for exchange. To be truly effective, every healthcare facility/practice must embrace interoperability. Medical practices that use interoperability have already demonstrated the value of having complete data records at their fingertips. PatientMD as an AI-driven digital health platform strongly believes in the potential it has to offer for widely solving the problem and challenges faced by healthcare providers/businesses/practices to adopt interoperability. PatientMD aims to improve practice/business efficiency by providing secure and HIPAA compliant Direct Appointment Scheduling to interoperate with your EHR. Our well defined networked EHR system is in complete sync with the doctors EMR. Also meets government regulations to privately and securely share medical records from your EHR with your patients PHR. Our networked EHR system helps in easy sharing of patient information from sources outside your practice.

Interested in learning more about how PatientMD facilitates interoperability? Just give us a call at +91-9051-057337 (India)/+1-888-448-9495 (USA) or mail us at contact@patientmd.com.