“We can only see interoperability driving the future of healthcare systems”

The need for having data sharing in healthcare through electronic records is more prevalent than ever. For the healthcare industry, big data can help lower rate of medication errors, facilitate preventive care, streamline staffing, among others. However due to the increasing number of cybersecurity attacks on healthcare systems, there is going to be more scrutiny regarding health data sharing, consent, and monetisation after recurring incidents exploiting interoperability.

- Hithaishi C Bhaskar

International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that by 2023, 70 per cent of Healthcare Organisations’ attempts to scale value-based care models will fail unless they invest in data-driven governance, operations, and organisational infrastructure. Antonio De Castro, Senior Industry Consultant, Global Health and Life Sciences Practice, SAS Institute shares further insight on data interoperability in healthcare systems and the evolution of Healthcare information technology (HCIT) in upcoming days. Edited excerpts;

What is interoperability in the healthcare system?

With increasing digital transformation in healthcare, the number and scope of connected systems in a healthcare organisation has increased significantly. Today, for example, a hospital can have more than a hundred systems that need to communicate with one another. Novel electronic health record systems, cloud technology and adoption of sophisticated medical devices, ‘Internet of Medical Things’, for instance adds to the complexity of managing all systems in the healthcare industry.

This surge of data and the ability to share data between platforms in the healthcare system is not an easy challenge to tackle. The healthcare system needs to be more adept at exchanging data among the different systems and devices. This is where interoperability comes in, connecting all the sources of information and the clinical outcomes of treatments. Interoperability is the ability of different information systems, devices and applications (systems) to access, exchange, integrate and cooperatively use data in a coordinated manner, within and across organisational, regional and national boundaries, to provide timely and seamless portability of information and optimise the health of individuals and populations, globally.