Interoperability
National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Farzad Mostashari and the federal Health IT Policy Committee on April 3 took a hard look at a new vendor-led coalition to promote interoperability, called the CommonWell Health Alliance.
Although HIE "is advancing rapidly" in much of the country, "it is being held back by demand--and supply-side friction created by variation in federal and state programs and policies that give unequal and sometimes conflicting emphasis on interoperability," Micky Tripathi, Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative president and the federal Health IT Policy Committee's HIE workgroup chair told the panel April 3.
Making good on its promise, Health Level Seven International's primary standards and other intellectual property are now available to license at no cost. The decision represents HL7's commitment to the betterment of healthcare worldwide by ensuring that all stakeholders have equal access to its HIT standards, officials said.
Accountable care organizations might be today's hope for grappling with healthcare costs and bumping up quality, but according to one expert, they are doomed to fail without one key element.
In the third of three hearings held by subcommittees of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Farzad Mostashari, MD, reassured a congressional panel that health IT interoperability will take some dramatic leaps forward within the next two years.
Creating policy recommendations for HIE data query and response that reduces "real or perceived barriers," without being overly prescriptive, is the privacy and security "Tiger Team" subcommittee's task at hand in the coming months.
GOP strategist Karl Rove recalls a personal encounter with the power of healthcare IT. Mike Miliard asks Rove what role the government should play in reform, and whether the Bush administration could have infused $27B in stimulus funds.
Paul Wilder of the New York eHealth Collaborative discusses interoperability and the role of meaningful use Stage 2, which he says has helped more than Stage 1.
After McKesson, Cerner, Allscripts, Greenway and athenahealth made news at HIMSS13 with the launch of the CommonWell Health Alliance, Healthcare IT News spoke with McKesson CEO John Hammergren about the road ahead. Joining Hammergren in the discussion were David McCallie and Arien Malec.
Interoperability was one of the most talked about topics throughout 2013 HIMSS Annual Conference and Exhibition this past week. Before heading to New Orleans for the event, Healthcare IT News asked ONC chief Farzad Mostashari, MD, for his take on interoperability, and what it would take to achieve it sooner rather than later.