Select the “Interoperability Purpose” column to read a more technical definition.
Interoperability Purpose
Interoperability ensures that health-related information flows seamlessly from General Practitioner, to Specialist, to Hospital, to Patient. In other words, the patient’s information follows the patient regardless of geographic, organizational, or vendor boundaries. Specifically, Interoperability refers to the architecture or standards that make it possible for diverse electronic health record (EHR) systems to work compatibly in a true information network.
Interoperability Technical Implementation
Interoperability enables better workflows and reduced ambiguity, and allows data transfer among EHR systems and health care stakeholders. Standards are critical for creating an interoperable health IT environment. Four areas of EHR technology require particular consideration:
- How applications interact with EHR system users (such as ordering labs)
- How systems communicate with each other (such as messaging standards)
- How information is processed and managed (such as data import into an EHR)
- How consumer devices integrate with other systems and applications (such as tablet PCs for secure messaging)