Electronic Health Reporter

Guest post by Tom Bizzaro, RPh, vice president of health policy, FDB.

National Health IT Week has come and gone. The industry is focused on how far IT has come and how far it needs to go in healthcare. As most organizations have now adopted electronic records, one of the big themes this week has been EHR interoperability — getting these systems to work together.

Earlier this year, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) published a 10-year vision to achieve an interoperable health IT infrastructure. The ONC publication is meant to move the industry toward the much coveted interoperability that will enable healthcare organizations to seamlessly share patient information. The simple fact that the federal government has issued this call to action and the industry is embracing it is a good sign for the future of healthcare. We will finally be able to share vital patient information that helps us improve care for individuals and populations, while cutting some of the unnecessary costs out of the system.

While the report is encouraging, this is a very real industry where change only comes after considerable effort. To help move toward the interoperable nirvana quicker – or at least make the journey more palatable — we need to:

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