Raising the Bar on Interoperability
HealthIT Answers July 8, 2024
By Jordan Everson, Wes Barker and Meghan Gabriel, ONC
A Decade of Data Show that “Sometimes” Isn’t Good Enough
A decade ago, as EHRs were rapidly implemented across the country, ONC sought to make sure these newly implemented technologies were interoperable. Since 2014, ONC has tracked progress toward widespread interoperability among hospitals and physicians by measuring their engagement in four domains of health information exchange: electronically finding, sending, receiving, and integrating patient health information. As shown in the figure below, US hospitals experienced widespread progress toward interoperability with 70% of hospitals reporting that they ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’ engaged in all four domains in 2023, up from 23% in 2014.
Figure 1. Hospitals Engaging in Interoperable Exchange of Electronic Health Information:...