Personal health records break down the barriers

Early successes in healthcare interoperability - the electronic exchange of information between healthcare stakeholders including providers, patients and payers - are paving the way for more health information exchange (HIE) in the near to mid future. This is according to the latest report from independent market analyst Datamonitor. The report, Building a Network of Networks to Achieve Interoperability in Healthcare, expects that separate HIE networks, including personal health records (PHRs), will connect to form larger HIEs, much like the internet was once a series of separate networks that joined into one.

“An interoperable environment in healthcare allows patient health information that is isolated in each provider's office to be shared between them. This sharing of information improves the quality of patient care and decreases overall healthcare costs,” says Christine D. Chang, healthcare technology analyst at Datamonitor and the report's author. “Today, for example, dermatologists only see dermatology records; cardiologists only see cardiology records. Primary care physicians (PCPs), in theory, are able to see the patient as a whole, but if the other physicians do not actively share information with the PCPs, then the PCPs are limited by a lack of patient data. However, with interoperability all ready a reality in some healthcare settings, this is set to change.”

Organisational issues, not technical ones, are limiting the growth of HIE

Datamonitor's definition of interoperability in healthcare is the ability to exchange health information stored in disparate IT systems both within a healthcare organisation as well as among them.

Sharing health information electronically will help providers gain a more complete picture of the patient, giving them a 360 degree view of the patient and helping to create a true medical home. Improving the quality of care through HIE will also make the healthcare system more efficient, decreasing costs for healthcare systems.

However, achieving interoperability in healthcare continues to be a difficult undertaking. In the past, this was partly due to poor technology. Today, the technology is ready. Rather, the primary issue is that organisations are not ready. Organisational issues like finding a sustainable business model, addressing the perceived lack of privacy and security of patient information and the lack of trust between healthcare stakeholders are difficult barriers to overcome, but they are not impossible.

Datamonitor believes that the exchange of health information will begin occurring on a broader scale despite these barriers.

If adopted, PHRs will greatly simplify many of the barriers facing interoperability

For most of the healthcare community, even within healthcare technology circles, PHRs are just an interesting solution to watch. The majority of healthcare providers has not yet tried using PHRs and do not understand how they work. Like consumers, most are worried about privacy and security issues. ‘Why should Google or Microsoft have access to my healthcare data?' is a frequently raised concern. Clinicians worry about the quality of the data. Bystanders wonder if patients will really go through all the trouble of entering their own data into the computer. Despite the fact that these issues are being addressed by PHR companies, most healthcare professionals still do not see the value of PHRs.

Amid all this confusion, however, is a solution that, if adopted, will not only empower patients, but could also circumvent many of the problems facing regional and national HIE initiatives by simplifying the number of connections healthcare organisations need to make. However, it will take time to overcome the current scepticism regarding PHRs. “Much like shopping over the internet was met with much resistance and worries about credit card fraud in the beginning,” Chang states, “in the future, PHRs will become a typical part of the patient experience once patients and providers understand that the benefits of PHRs outweigh the risks.”

Chang concludes: “If you are a patient lying unconscious in a hospital emergency room, with no family or friends to speak for you, would you rather your doctor have access to your health information (what you're allergic to, medications you are taking, pre-existing conditions, family history), or would you rather your doctor know nothing about you and treat you blindly? This life or death scenario highlights the importance of HIE. Healthcare stakeholders need to continue working together to achieve interoperability in healthcare despite the difficulties.”

Notes

Datamonitor's report, Building a Network of Networks to Achieve Interoperability in Healthcare, examines the market, strategy and technology forces driving the adoption of health information exchange solutions.