Interoperability In Healthcare: Type, And Benefits

Healthcare information technology is actively playing its part in all healthcare operations due to the advanced use of electronic health records (EHRs), e-prescribing technologies, and other mobile devices. However, to have the most positive influence on medical outcomes and overall healthcare delivery, it is critical to guarantee that these technological breakthroughs can communicate with one another effectively. This is where interoperability is needed. 

Healthcare interoperability is simply the capacity of devices and systems to interchange and utilize electronic information from other devices and systems with no additional effort on the user's behalf. It is a crucial function in improving data analytics and seamless care cooperation. In healthcare, a lack of interoperability can jeopardize patient safety, increase professional burnout, and waste billions of dollars each year. According to a study, the lack of healthcare data interoperability costs the US health system more than $30 billion per year.

Types Of Interoperability In Health Information Technology

• Foundational Interoperability. It allows one information system to communicate data with another. This information does not need to be interpreted by the system that receives it. It will be accessible for usage immediately.

• Structural Interoperability. It specifies the structure or format of the data to be transmitted. There should be a standard for the transmission of healthcare data from one system to another. This is also known as syntactic or technical interoperability, and it assures that sharing can be interpreted at the data field level.

• Semantic Interoperability. This highest level ensures that the information transferred by two or more systems can be shared, comprehended, and used. Its usage is necessary for healthcare to effectively overcome the technology and terminology barriers that now exist across the different technological systems and data sources.

Benefits of Interoperability In Healthcare

•  Error-free data exchange. It can speed up essential procedures, remove much of your manual data input, reduce errors, and free up time for other office activities. Your interoperability skills can aid in increasing practice efficiency by connecting to health information exchanges (HIEs) and EHR systems. As long as data is recorded correctly at the start, your practice has a better chance of accurately maintaining protected health information (PHI) throughout its life cycle.

• Improve care coordination. With easy data access, doctors can more easily obtain a patient's most critical health information, which means fewer repeat tests, fewer unintended therapy interactions, and fewer miscommunications. Interoperability enables organizations to examine data trends and prior performance, as well as create data-driven patient care improvement plans. 

• Cost-reduction in healthcare. Improved efficiency through increased information exchange saves employees' time and effort, resulting in additional cost savings. Interoperability means that more useful information can be shared more quickly. For example, data from a patient who had a blood test at his doctor's office last week can be used today during a trip to the emergency room, saving time and money from further testing at the hospital.

• Ensuring the safety of patient data. As the frequency of cybersecurity attacks on the healthcare industry grows, the online health management platforms must strike a balance between the requirement for patient health data to be available and the need to protect patient privacy. Today's healthcare interoperability solutions rely on HIPAA-compliant environments to ensure that data is shared appropriately and securely.

• Reduce physician burnout. The lack of interoperability and the overwhelming number of healthcare solutions have increased the strain on both doctors and administrators. Interoperability solutions can flawlessly reduce the number of tasks that require manual touches, reduce duplicate testing, and remove the burden placed on physicians by providers and payers by enabling fully integrated health data exchange.

How Can PatientMD Help You Achieve Interoperability? 

PatientMD is an AI and Blockchain driven digital health platform providing patient engagement and recruitment solutions. It promotes an interoperability framework that enables seamless network communication for secure data transmission through its electronic health record systems (EHR). It also makes use of Clinical Decision Support, Predictive Analytics, and AI tools to easily combine data and assure compatibility across several technology platforms.

Interested in learning more about interoperability within your healthcare system? Text us at +18727048154.