4 steps toward interoperability success
- Evaluate your capabilities. Without knowing your capabilities, you cannot plan where you’re going and how you will get there — and it’s inherent on the EHR vendor community to provide these solutions.
- Know the financial implications of interoperability vs. no interoperability. You’re either going to invest in an interoperability strategy or keep doing business as usual — evaluate the financial implications of both. The lack of interoperability in post-acute care contributes to higher care delivery cost, not to mention time spent charting in separate systems. What else will it cost you? Consider the financial impact when leveraging the power of networks like CommonWell and Care Quality, allowing you to see patient history with a network representing hundreds of millions of patient records. You would have an immediate understanding of why the patient was sent to you, their medications, diagnoses, and more.
- Leverage your interoperability strategy to differentiate your business. If a referring provider is willing to switch post-acute organizations based on their ability to interoperate, you need to be the first to knock on their door. Be sure to assess what your referral sources are doing (or not doing) and start the conversation about interoperability and how it will drive value for both of your organizations. CommonWell allows for the exchange of information without having to set up a special process with vendors — which can be a great conversation starter. Interoperability is more than just accepting data into your system to streamline operations, and it’s more than just requesting patient information electronically to provide better care. It is also being able to communicate that data back to your referral sources and other providers with whom those patients have encounters. All of this will help differentiate you in the eyes of your referral sources and other care providers in your ecosystem.
- Stay informed with the organizations creating and enforcing standards. Everyone knows CMS, but The National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is also important. They set standards for certified EHR systems, hospitals, and physician practices on how to meet incentives. When NCHIT releases rules impacting referral sources, it gives you the opportunity to work toward having a mechanism for handling the new standard. Even when rules do not directly apply to your care setting, stay up to date on how it evolves to better accommodate referring providers.
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Chris Pugliese
Chris Pugliese, Director of Product Interoperability, ResMed SaaS. Chris has spent the last decade working with post-acute technology and EMRs, and the last 5 years focused on interoperability. His strength is enabling technology, as well as educating on the growing importance of interoperability and its benefits to the post-acute care settings. In a short time, Chris has become a leader, spearheading integration and interoperability initiatives within and outside of MatrixCare. Recent industry committee roles and responsibilities include: Leadership Team Member for the Post Acute Interoperability Work Group (PACIO), Technical Lead for the Functional Status Subgroup for the PACIO initiative – developing FHIR Profiles for Functional Status, CommonWell Health Alliance Use Case Committee member, CommonWell Health Alliance Specification Workgroup member
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