How can you make healthcare IT interoperability standards more accessible?

Very instructive!, is the goal for cost savings, improved population health outcome or both. Keeping an eye on either or both goals mean that impact of interoperability investment can be measured against progress in these two outcomes. It will help one focus on cost savings and not whether the tool used is open or closed source. It will help one look at sustainability leveraging key principles like designing with user, designing for scale and sustainability, and much more.

Si on comprend que passer du stade de la.collecte de données dans les Dossiers médicaux en environnement hospitalier a l’intégration aux systèmes extérieurs médecins de ville autres fournisseurs de soins IomT et autres ne passe que par l’adoption des normes d’interoperabilité alors casser les silos devient un objectif prioritaire dans le chemin vers les systèmes d’aide à la décision et la creation des environnements orientés patients et la deep interoperability.

Health IT interoperability standards can be more accessible when focus on creating user-friendly interfaces, providing comprehensive training programs, and promoting collaboration among healthcare stakeholders in order to ensure seamless integration and adoption. Additionally, fostering open communication channels for feedback and continuous improvement can enhance usability and encourage widespread implementation.

Interoperability can't be measured in isolation. It is an enabler , it property of the systems involved to be able to seamlessly exchange and use information. Therefore it's difficult to measure interoperability. While deciding for interoperability focus should on how easily and well your health system fits into the larger healthcare ecosystem.

1. Understand your needs and goals In our collaborative efforts, recognizing the vital role of interoperability, especially with the growing influence of AI, is crucial. Aligning needs with Generative AI opens avenues for tailored solutions, whether simplifying admin tasks, enhancing care coordination, or sharing patient information. Adopting standards like HL7 V2, CDA, and FHIR improves collaboration among healthcare stakeholders. Businesses benefit with more accurate data, faster decision-making, and improved patient care. Embracing these standards, coupled with Generative AI, holds promise for advancing healthcare interoperability, fostering positive outcomes for all involved.

Health systems struggle to share data between different systems. They often use HL7 V2 because it's widely used, even if systems don't support FHIR. HL7 V3 was made to fix V2's issues, but it's not used much due to being complicated. HL7 FHIR, using web-based APIs and JSON, is liked for modern systems. It's good for making web and mobile apps. In my recent projects, I've focused on using FHIR with major insurance providers, connecting different EHRs, and making a patient-centered app. I also helped move from HL7 V2 to FHIR, making data exchange better in the changing health data world.

This may be achieved by identifying standards, reviewing documentation, evaluate adoption, user feedback, interoperability testing, standards organizations, vendor support, community forums, costs and resources, regulatory compliance, scalability, security and privacy. Systematically gathering of information on these aspects, can compare health IT interoperability standards and make informed decisions based on specific requirements and goals.

Standards by definition are narrowly focussed on their problem domain. Therefore there would not be one standard that would be fit for use alone. IHE has done a fantastic work on taking usecases and mapping standards and also defining their scope of use. Ihe.net

Indeed, there are many interoperability standards, and the best approach is to look at a broad range of standards in use, and then know where to look for standards selection for identified use case. Other considerations should include open versus proprietary and the cost benefit analysis to determine which standard to consider. Where more than one terminology is adopted for a program area, then FHIR of particular version is necessary for stitching these options together. The saying “start small” is true in every sense when it comes to standards.

Connectathons are typically recommended for testing out peer to peer interoperability. The connectathon setup provides a near real world environment to test your implementations. While testing with validators and other simulations is okay for development, a real world test with peers systems from multiple vendors gives you the confidence to go live.

Several implementation and testing standards, along with best practices, contribute to health IT interoperability, through: Health Level Seven, Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise, Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine, etc. When implementing health IT interoperability, it's essential to follow these standards and best practices, considering the specific needs and context of your healthcare system. It is essential to follow regular testing, adherence to standards, and staying informed about updates contribute to successful and interoperable health IT solutions.

Few best practices that ensure seamless healthcare data exchange. - Choose the right specification for designing integration APIs when integrating with other systems. - Use standardized codes for clinical information exchange. - Ensuring accuracy and consistency by validating each data field and normalizing data to appropriate coding systems. - Conduct comprehensive data audits to facilitate effective troubleshooting. - Target top performance for a seamless end-user experience. - Following industry best practices and compliance standards, such as HIPAA and GDPR, during system development. - Address security issues during development, as it is more effective and cost-efficient than dealing with them in production.

Stay updated on healthcare changes and use standards like HL7 FHIR, DICOM, IHE, CCDA, and CQL, along with open-source FHIR platforms. These platforms let you customize solutions as needed. Make sure your solutions can easily adapt to new standards, especially by moving to FHIR. This helps healthcare become more flexible, work together better, and focus more on patients. The key advantages : Improved Interoperability Flexible Data Exchange Simplify implementation with modern technology and a RESTful API approach. Patient-Centric Approach Support for Mobile Health FHIR is widely adopted internationally. Use the latest technologies, follow regulations, and meet the needs of the industry. This way, your solution stays effective and up-to-date.

From my view, creation of a user-centric approach to healthcare IT interoperability in ensuring that stakeholders are educated, engaged, and actively involved in the process, is part of the best practices to foster interoperability.

Educating and engaging users and stakeholders is crucial for effective collaboration and understanding. Sharing knowledge is important, and we employ various tools to facilitate learning interactively. This includes video tutorials, user guides, and FAQs. Additionally, we enhance user experience by incorporating effective tips directly within the software forms. Moreover, conducting consultation sessions is a valuable practice. These sessions provide expert guidance and offer an opportunity for users to discuss their specific needs. This not only makes the learning process more comprehensive but also ensures active engagement. By combining these strategies, we strive to create an enriched learning environment for our users and stakeholders.

Interoperability meet ups is a must for meaningful progress. Discussions has to be technical (clinical, administrative, public health, ICT), frank and based on mutual trust. Connectathons are other avenues for such discussions.

To make healthcare IT interoperability standards more accessible, consider providing educational resources and guidance on setting up FHIR compliant APIs. Additionally, emphasize the importance of understanding the FHIR specification for effective data transformations. Encourage the exploration of open source FHIR servers like Medplum and HAPI FHIR, offering practical solutions for achieving full FHIR compliance. Promoting simplicity and clarity in implementing interoperability standards can enhance accessibility and adoption in the healthcare IT domain.