I should probably branch out and not just relate technology to healthcare, but it is interesting to me, so whatever. The topic of shared standards is particularly interesting as they relate to electronic medical records of healthcare facilities because right here in Minneapolis we have multiple silos of EMRs that are great on their own but bad for the community as a whole. I say that because these hospitals are investing literally hundreds of millions of dollars into these EMR packages to improve communication internally within a system. However, there is seemingly little or no collaboration between the systems, which leaves the patient with the short end of the stick. If you are in a car accident and are sent to HCMC, but normally you go to Fairview, the HCMC doctors will not have the immediate access to your medical records that they need-especially if you (the patient) are unable to communicate. Are you allergic to morphine derivatives? That’s a problem if the HCMC emergency room physician doesn’t know that because your health records are trapped on the Fairview Information highway.
It is just amazing to me that these organizations, which are non-profit and supposed to be serving the good of the community, refuse to collaborate on one of the most significant developments in the history of healthcare delivery. The result is excess spending after the fact to try and patch these behemoth information systems together at some point in the future, or simply resigning to the fact that you better have an emergency close to a hospital that is part of a health system that your physician is aligned with.
To me interoperability just makes since and with some joint-planning 5 years ago, these local hospital systems could have had so much more for their money, and for their patients, than what they have right now.
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