December 26, 2008
Interoperability is Key
Mike Leavitt, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services wrote a recent editorial in the Washington Post entitled "Connecting The Medical Dots." He describes that Congress is considering a boost for health information technology in the proposed January stimulus package, but he warns that unless "the funds are tied to standards for the interoperability of health IT systems, the expenditure could do more harm than good."
According to Leavitt, before lawmakers act, they need to think. By supporting and encouraging systems that cannot exchange information, we are "replacing paper-based silos of medical information with more expensive, computer-based silos that are barely more useful. Critical information will remain trapped in proprietary systems, unable to get to where it's needed."
The value to any Health Information System is when they are interoperable, otherwise, clinicians will invest in electronic medical record systems that that cannot share information with other clinicians. "Today, specialists on a patient's team need to use interoperable systems that share medical records, prescription histories, lab results, imaging and clinical notes. System standards are needed to protect privacy and ensure that content — such as patients' diagnoses, allergies, medications, lab tests and medical directives — is standard for every patient, every time."
He points out that Congress has approved a request for higher reimbursement rates for Medicare doctors who e-prescribe. The Institute of Medicine has estimated that more than 1.5-million Americans are injured annually by drug errors. E-prescriptions can greatly reduce that number. He also describes the establishment of Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) that offers a certification process that electronic health records must meet existing interoperability standards. He belives that "any stimulus money for electronic health records should go only to those with CCHIT certification."
He closes by saying "if we're going to build a 21st-century health infrastructure, we need to continue the careful work on harmonized standards that will create one nationwide, interoperable system. That's the only way to make an investment in health IT produce value for providers and patients and improve health care."
Washington Post Article: Connecting the Medical Dots
Posted by rsk at December 26, 2008 03:02 PM