Report cites lack of interoperability as biggest barrier to robust IT infrastructure
Lack of interoperability is the biggest obstacle to information exchange, according to a report compiled by an independent group of scientists advising the federal government.
The government must establish a “comprehensive, transparent, and overarching software architecture” for health information to address the problem, according to the report. The advisory group--JASON--was assembled by MITRE Corporation and the report was funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
The criteria for Meaningful Use Stages 1 and 2 surpass the 2013 goals established by the Department of Health and Human Services for EHR adoption, but "fall short of achieving Meaningful Use in any practical sense" and "large-scale interoperability amounts to little more than replacing fax machines with the electronic delivery of page-formatted medical records."
"Most patients still cannot gain electronic access to their health information" and "rational access to EHRs for clinical care and biomedical research does not exist outside the boundaries of individual organizations," the authors wrote.
The report recommends that the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services "embrace Stage 3 Meaningful Use as an opportunity to break free from the status quo and embark upon the creation of a truly interoperable health data infrastructure."
Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH, MSc, national coordinator for health IT, in an ONC blog post, called the report a "comprehensive and thoughtful look at the technical challenges in our health information technology system." She wrote that the findings and recommendations are "consistent with our intent to support nationwide interoperability in a way that supports care, health and is flexible enough to meet the challenges of the future. The ONC and the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) have already begun to work on many of the recommendations cited in the report–although this represents the beginning, not the end of our efforts. The JASON recommendations continue to challenge us to stay focused on the path ahead."
Read the complete report: “A Robust Health Data Infrastructure.”
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.