15 Feb Interoperability moves beyond mere machinery, leans on data to improve systems
Construction process is revealing more layers of procedure needed to elevate the industry’s clinical and business model, experts say.
From its conceptual roots in the 1990s to adapting to the present-day issues of value-driven care, the healthcare industry has targeted interoperability as essential in optimizing clinical and fiscal operations. But as more systems become adept and EHR connectivity is widespread, the mission of interoperability is moving away from just the technology at play.
“Up until now the focus has been on the mechanics of interoperability and the time has come to go beyond it,” said Rose Higgins, president of SCIO Health Analytics’ North America Group in West Hartford, Connecticut. “If we’re not informing from the process and adding precision, we’re not moving the dial in the right direction.”
Likening the interoperability initiative to peeling an onion, Higgins said the construction process is revealing more layers of procedure needed to elevate the industry’s clinical and business model.
“The most important challenge in establishing more interoperable capacity is not limiting it to clinical workflow,” she said. “We have to broaden our horizons and think in terms of economics, viability, how to understand performance and measuring performance. We have to take that data-rich environment and turn it into a narrative.”
The key ingredient is the data and she says providers need to consider sources beyond the laboratory, diagnostic tests and clinical metrics.
“It’s the behavior patterns of the individual – they have to be engaged in the process,” Higgins said. “There are additional complexities to it and you must figure out what the data is telling you.”