Interoperability and Health Information Exchange

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Monday, 01 April 2013 14:27

One of the hottest trends in the implementation of EHR systems these days is the idea  of interoperability.  It is all the talk, but what is it and why is it so important to the success of Health Information Exchange.

Defining Interoperability

Quite simply the IEEE Standard Computer Dictionary defines interoperability as “the ability of two or more systems or components to exchange information and to use the information that has been exchanged.”

Note the two key words highlighted in the definition above; exchange and use.  Exchange is a prerequisite for interoperability, but it is only part of it.

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HIE Interview with Deb Hemler

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Thursday, 28 February 2013 16:48

If a patient goes to the ER and forgets to mention important medical information, then a doctor cannot provide the best possible care.  The Health Information Exchanges (HIE) enables doctors and healthcare providers to receive medical information quickly and accurately to provide better medical care for patients. CoreTech is proud to work with the nation’s largest HIE—the Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE), where we recently had the pleasure of interviewing one of their key resources, Deb Hemler, INPC Product Manager.

“Healthcare is hard, but it doesn’t have to be. We can pull it all together.  The point is to discover the pain point for the healthcare provider and start to build from there,” said Hemler.

Read more: HIE Interview with Deb Hemler

HIE Plans in 50 States but Where is the Progress?

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Thursday, 28 February 2013 16:06

In 2010 the ONC divided $547,703,438 dollars between all 50 states(and US territories) for the purpose of funding the creation of their statewide Health Information Exchanges (HIE). The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)  continues to promote health information exchanges even as the debate over their usefulness is heating up.

So what states have created their HIEs in the past three years since the original funding?  While doing research for this article I realized there wasn’t much written about individual state HIEs. Per the ONC website setup for HIEs, statehieresources.org, all 50 states submitted their plans between 2010 and 2011. A few states still appearing to be behind, with Connecticut, New Hampshire and Nevada not yet reporting any data to the ONC.

Read more: HIE Plans in 50 States but Where is the Progress?

Real Data, Real Time, Real Results for 2013

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Wednesday, 30 January 2013 18:50

Trending for 2013 is Actionable Analytics.  What is it?  It is about using data to make smart business decisions right now! The way that healthcare facilities have managed operations and patient population data for decades is no longer adequate for business.  In the last few years with the help of the HITECH Act, healthcare facilities across the country have been implementing their EHRs (Electronic Health Records).  EHRs are collecting large amounts of data that used to live in a VERY paper-based environment.  This new digital version of the data has the capacity to make healthcare facilities more productive than ever, if it is used correctly.

Read more: Real Data, Real Time, Real Results for 2013