Overcome Interoperability Challenges: 3 Solutions for Seamless Data Exchange

When it comes to health data exchange, we've reached a pivotal point. Legislation and other initiatives such as the 21st Century Cures Act and the Trusted Exchange Framework Common Agreement, make it clear that health information must be shared electronically with trusted parties. Mandates and incentives from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are accelerating stakeholders toward a common goal — enabling secure nationwide health information exchange.

However, interoperability is a big challenge. Interoperability describes the extent to which systems and devices can exchange data and interpret that shared data. It’s essential for delivering high-quality care, improving patient outcomes, and driving innovation in the healthcare industry.

How does the lack of cohesive communication play out in the real world? Let's consider the case of Michael.

Michael has multiple health conditions and visits a primary care provider, a diabetes specialist, and a heart specialist. Each provider uses a different EHR system to manage patient data. During a visit to the ER, the physician didn’t have access to Michael’s complete medical history and had to manually enter information, which took up valuable time and increased the risk for mistakes. Had they used a health information exchange platform, care could have been better coordinated. Michael could have focused on what matters most – his health.

This real-life scenario shows the personal consequences of interoperability gaps. The financial implications of such gaps are also large. The lack of interoperability is estimated to cost the healthcare industry billions of dollars annually. These costs stem from redundant tests, unnecessary procedures, and prolonged hospital stays.

Three challenges — siloed data, lack of integration, and slow adoption of standardization — are closely related and contribute to the overall challenge of achieving seamless data exchange. We take a closer look at these challenges and offer solutions for creating a more connected healthcare ecosystem.

1. SILOED HEALTHCARE DATA

As we saw from Michael’s story, the lack of cohesive communication between different systems negatively affected his care. It can cause delays, inefficiencies, and inaccuracies in the diagnosis and treatment process. Moreover, this lack of cohesion places an added burden on the already busy healthcare provider.

Interoperability is like Tetris. Data and the respective integrations that help its transmission need to fit together perfectly. It’s challenging to get all the pieces to align. A company with experience in big data analytics helps healthcare organizations integrate and analyze data from various sources. A centralized data repository or a distributed data storage system supports interoperability standards such as FHIR. Healthcare organizations can develop a cohesive plan and move beyond the “random acts of digital” adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic to create a more seamless patient experience.

2. SLOW ADOPTION OF STANDARDIZATION

Healthcare data is captured in different formats, making it difficult to exchange and interpret between different systems. In Michael’s story, without standardized data, his records were fragmented across systems, which increased the chance of errors.

Interoperability is about building bridges between the different formats. It takes time, planning, and experience to ensure the bridge supports the weight of the data traveling across it. A company with health tech domain expertise offers solutions to standardize healthcare data formats for faster and more efficient data use. Adopting common data models and formats such as HL7 and FHIR ensures data consistency across different healthcare systems.

Moreover, the absence of interoperability standards hinders the development of health tech marketplaces. Standards, such as FHIR, enable the exchange of healthcare data through applications and allow seamless data exchange between different healthcare entities. A company with software engineering experts helps healthcare organizations develop FHIR-compliant applications.

3. INTEGRATION CHALLENGES

Healthcare organizations have multiple IT systems, each with their own data storage and management mechanisms. It's difficult to integrate these systems, causing data inconsistencies and care delivery delays. In Michael’s story, the integrated data would have created a comprehensive picture of his health.

An air traffic controller is needed to increase data intake capabilities from various sources. A service provider with extensive cloud and DevOps services helps healthcare organizations integrate different IT systems seamlessly. Patient data is centralized in an integrated system, and healthcare providers can access it in real time.

Furthermore, as healthcare organizations shift toward value-based care, there is a growing need for connected health devices that capture patient data and send it in real time to providers. Integrating data from EHRs, medical devices, and patient-generated data from wearables poses more challenges. The primary issue lies in the fragmented nature of data, which is stored in incompatible formats.

Big data analytics and AI experts develop solutions to achieve maximum value from disparate sources of healthcare data. Healthcare providers can then make data-driven decisions to improve patient outcomes and drive operational efficiency.

HEALTH TECH MARKETPLACES OF THE FUTURE

The need to streamline data exchange between healthcare systems is driving the development of health tech marketplaces. Marketplaces enable access to a broader network of healthcare providers and services, resulting in enhanced care delivery for patients. Marketplaces play a crucial role in addressing the problem of interoperability.

Marketplaces serve as a centralized hub where healthcare organizations, providers, and vendors can connect, exchange, and access health technology products, services, and solutions. Healthy and robust marketplaces improve the visibility of partner offerings and third-party solutions, enabling applications to be downloaded, installed, or requested, all in one place.

LET’S PARTNER

Overall, fixing healthcare interoperability challenges requires a collaborative effort among different stakeholders, including healthcare providers and technology vendors. By working together, it’s possible to overcome interoperability challenges and create a more connected healthcare ecosystem.

At SoftServe, we are committed to helping our clients succeed in the digital age. By partnering with us, you’ll develop a comprehensive approach that establishes you as the best choice for innovative solutions. Solutions that are more than just repurposed business tools.

SoftServe is creating smarter healthcare with our technical engineering expertise, a deep understanding of the healthcare and life sciences industry, and Centers of Excellence competencies in innovation strategy, experience design, big data, data science, and AI/ML. We have multiple established vendor partners to help create solutions that will propel you forward faster.

LET'S TALK about how you can overcome interoperability challenges and create a more connected healthcare ecosystem.