Why Your Organization Can’t Afford To Skimp On Interoperability Anymore

Interoperability is a key enabler for providers and payers to deliver on the promise of health care reform. Despite increased adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs), only a fraction of providers can demonstrate the routine ability to exchange data efficiently, prompting public criticism of the application software vendors as a barrier to achieving interoperability objectives. Recognizing that interoperability is essential, the Office of the National Coordinator released an interoperability road map intended to drive the market toward a common data set for easier data exchange.

Given this changing landscape, providers must recognize that many interoperability tasks remain undone and the responsibility to interoperate rests on each organization. The following are seven challenges that must be overcome to benefit from interoperability...