Advances on numerous fronts

Beth Walsh, Editor, CMIO

The most literal advance on the interoperability front this month is new and revised standards from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The three standards are intended to help expand the market for medical equipment that has device-to-device communications capabilities.

IEEE also is working on standards-development projects aimed at expanding support for communications among four categories of plug-and-play, interoperable medical devices: insulin pumps, respiration rate monitors, pulse oximeters and cardiovascular activity monitors.

Meanwhile, researchers have demonstrated the feasibility of a wearable sensor designed to passively recognize people. If successful, the prototype they hope to build from their study will curtail mistaken-identity errors in, and malicious hacking of, mobile and wearable medical devices.

The bracelet-like sensor uses bioimpedance—the physiological response to electric current passing through human tissue—to give mHealth sensors the ability to verify the wearer’s identity. The team studied their approach on 46 adult subjects and found a wearer-recognition accuracy rate of at least 85 percent. Accuracy reached 90 percent when they combined the method with measurements allowing for an error of 1 mm in wrist circumference.

Furthering the goal of transparency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a data initiative to create the new Office of Information Products and Data Analysis (OIPDA), which is designed to maximize CMS data for internal and external users. 

OIPDA "will serve as the single point of accountability and coordination across the agency to ensure consistent implementation of policies related to data release and dissemination," according to information published on the CMS website. "The Office will also develop and continually update the suite of CMS data and information products and serve as the agency point of contact for external data requests."

Are any of these advances in interoperability helping your organization? Please share your experience.

Beth Walsh
CMIO Editor
bwalsh@trimedmedia.com