Why is Interoperability So Essential to Patient Outcomes?

The likelihood of a positive outcome for a patient across the continuum of care is closely tied to the ability of the patient’s health information to follow suit.

As healthcare organizations and providers increase their work to improve transitions of care, they face the problems associated with a lack of interoperability. Without interoperable health IT systems, providers cannot expect to be in control a patient’s movement across the care continuum. “They’re extremely connected. You can’t do one without the other,” says Jorge Taborga, Executive Vice President of Engineering at Omnicell.

Despite a growing emphasis on care transitions and accountable care, achieving these goals beyond a provider’s four walls is pushing the healthcare industry into relatively unknown territory. “We’re still in the thinking stages as an industry on how to address that, but we’re certainly moving in that direction,” adds Taborga.

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Source: EHR Intelligence