Interoperability: A call to action. HCI-DC 2014

Healthcare Innovation Day 2014 brought together 1,700 stakeholders from various healthcare sectors to discuss the need for interoperability. The conference, co-hosted by the West Health Institute and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), emphasized the importance of collaboration among all stakeholders to achieve seamless information exchange between medical devices and electronic health records (EHRs). The report highlights a Call to Action, proposing several steps that stakeholders can take to accelerate progress, including recognizing the urgency of interoperability, aligning incentives, and adopting open standards.

The benefits of interoperability are underscored, including reduced medical errors, improved clinical decision-making, and more time for healthcare providers to focus on patient care. Additionally, interoperability can drive substantial cost savings, with estimates of $30-40 billion in annual savings from standards-based technology adoption. The report also outlines the challenges hindering interoperability, such as technical complexity, proprietary systems, and lack of standardized solutions, and offers solutions including open standards, test beds, and cross-industry collaboration. The report concludes with case studies, insights from industry experts, and examples of interoperability in other industries, emphasizing the urgency and potential benefits of a fully interoperable healthcare system.