Solutions for Interoperability Planning
Interoperability is an ongoing effort to continuously improve your ability to receive and send usable clinical data. It is not a once and done thing. The HHS Assistant Secretary for Techinal Policy, ASTP, helps the US Healthcare ecosysyem plan and realize an interoperable healthcare ecosystem. See more on their mission for interoperability. Interoperability at ASTP.
Increasing interoperability is a key IT, data management and business architectural goal. To achieve increased interoperability, you have to assess honestly where you stand now and where you want to go, and with whom. This requires a great deal of stakeholder engagement. A common way to plan is to develop an 'As Is' and a 'To Be' Architectural plan along with data flow diagrams. This is commonly done by business analysts working with clinicians.
Where to Start
In an enterprise or a single hospital system, one should start with an inventory of business processes, software systems, databases, data standards in use, reference data files and business partners.
- Resources for Interoperability
- When performing requirements analysis, what factors limit interoperability?
- Increasing Interoperability Through LOINC Standardized Coding
Data standards and standardized terminologies that help achieve interoperability - UCUM : Standardized Units of Measure
Increasing requirements for interoperability between clinical information systems impacts budgets for IT architectural expenditures. Operational budgets need to take precedence, planning needs to occur at the CIO's level continually.