Interoperability efforts move forward

Mary Stevens, Editor Image source: TriMed Media Group

Healthcare organizations and vendors, take note: Registration opened this week for HIMSS11’s Interoperability Showcase, and would-be participants should be able to register for the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) North American Connectathon event by the end of the week, according to the IHE. During the Connectathon event Jan. 17-21, 2011, systems from multiple vendors exchange information and perform the transactions required for the roles they have selected, called IHE Actors, in support of clinical use cases called IHE Profiles. Systems will demonstrate their capabilities at the HIMSS11 Interoperability Showcase in late February.

In more contemporary interop news, Stanley was awarded two time-and-materials contracts, valued at $15 million, by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to provide operational and infrastructure support for the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN). The Arlington, Va.-based company will develop and maintain a tools and standards repository for the NHIN to facilitate wider use of the standards and an increased level of interoperability across the U.S. in health IT.

The Health IT Standards Committee, instrumental in the NHIN development process, reports that the final rules for Stage 1 meaningful use have clarified interoperability requirements for electronic information exchange in EHRs and beyond. When possible, the information exchange standards will allow “flow-through” from meaningful use requirements to other regulatory efforts, said Doug Fridsma, MD, PhD, acting director of the Office of Interoperability and Standards at the ONC, speaking at the July 27 HIT Standards Committee meeting.

Among merger and acquisition activity that could shape the interoperability landscape going forward, Ingenix’s acquisition of HIE systems and services vendor Axolotl will be watched closely, as the Axolotl management team will reportedly stay on and lead Ingenix’s connectivity efforts.

Finally, system integration might be critical for improving care, but apparently it’s not always the top concern for home health agencies, according to a recent KLAS report. Homecare-specific vendors’ focus and attention generally outweigh the potential for integration with an enterprise vendor’s EMR, the healthcare research firm found. In interviews of 225 agencies about eight leading vendors—four of which were enterprise and four that focused specifically on homecare—the homecare-centric vendors ruled the roost, the report found. In this case, it looks like 'integration' of customer service gave the homecare vendors the edge.

Mary Stevens, editor

mstevens@trimedmedia.com