“Health information exchange, accountable care, interoperability and the merging healthcare industry are forming an environment where electronic patient data is being combined at a record pace. With dreams of a national patient record database, initiatives are brought forth in hopes that we can improve care, decrease costs, and create a healthcare industry that is more accountable for care across the continuum. I am more optimistic than most that this can become a reality. I am downright gleeful to personally witness the increased rate at which we are sharing data to improve care, innovate, and conduct incredible medical research. However, many of these organizations are using systems that simply make EMR data available to partners. Sharing is not enough. This data needs to be cleaned and duplicate records need to be combined in order to gain full advantage from this interconnected healthcare system. Integrating this data correctly is vital to saving cost, administrative time, and mitigating errors in the delivery of care. Silo’d patient data is dangerous.”
Article
Melody Smith Jones, Healthcare IT Solutions, 31 Mhealthay 2011
