Three questions for Cerner's Zane Burke

In addition to efforts to improve interoperability through its participation in the CommonWell Health Alliance, Cerner recently completed the acquisition of Siemens Health Services.

Clinical Innovation + Technology posed three questions to Cerner President Zane Burke.

Q:  How is Cerner helping its customers achieve interoperability?

ZB: Cerner has long been committed to connecting organizations and systems, regardless of platform or provider, to ensure the free flow of data across the continuum of care.

Interoperability happens when patient information can move freely among different systems without barriers. At HIMSS15, Cerner will showcase solutions that help organizations advance their interoperability goals within the community and beyond.

*Local Information Exchange: Cerner solutions securely connect care providers within a community with other providers and practices outside their organization. Cerner will showcase its solutions that make it easier for providers in the community to refer patients, send information to area laboratories and communicate with other practices. Cerner interoperability solutions securely connect these organizations to share information and collaborate electronically with other care providers.

*Regional and Organizational Information Exchange: Whether it's a local health information exchange (HIE), a state immunization registry or an organizational information exchange network among different facilities, Cerner solutions help healthcare facilities connect with each other. Cerner solutions provide the capability to share many types of clinical information, including electronic orders, results, clinical documents, images, immunizations and prescriptions.

*National Information Exchange: Cerner is a founding member of the CommonWell Health Alliance, an organization committed to enabling nationwide interoperability. Within the Cerner booth, and at the CommonWell booth (3960), Cerner will demonstrate how CommonWell enables people to give providers access to their health information.

Q: How will the interoperability roadmap help your business and your customers?

ZB: Interoperability is a critical next step in the EHR world. Interoperability can provide clinicians with the data they need to manage the health of their populations and truly put the patient at the center of care. For interoperability to succeed, it will require all of the different information system suppliers coming together to find ways to connect their platforms, like those vendors who have joined together in the CommonWell Health Alliance. The great thing about CommonWell is vendors representing 70 percent of the acute market share in the U.S. have joined together to make interoperability a reality.

Q: What are you doing to help improve the privacy and security of protected health information?

ZB: The security of personal health information is our top priority. Client information is monitored and maintained 24-7-365, and many of our clients have trusted Cerner for two decades or more to remotely host data in our state-of-the-art facility that has unique security features that protect against natural and man-made disasters. At HIMSS15, Cerner, along with other CommonWell members, will demonstrate broad data sharing at a national level to show processes for privacy and consent, patient enrollment, record location and how information is shared securely across organizations.