Day 7: Swans A Swimming Upstream

It’s Day 7 in our annual 12 Days to Christmas posts and we look to the ongoing topic of Interoperability.

On December 1st, we hosted a virtual panel discussion that brought industry leaders to the table to talk about the current and future state of Interoperability. This event marks our 6th annual and in Q1 we’ll be hosting a panel on TEFCA, making it our 7th event.  And you know what? We’re still swimming upstream.

While the industry has made some progress, like our swans, who on the surface look to be moving forward serenely, underneath paddle furiously to move forward. Yep, that sounds like Interoperability, a topic we’ve been talking about and publishing content on for 10 years.

I encourage you to watch the video of this discussion. Here are 7 questions posed by moderator Jim Tate and addressed by the panelists:

1. In the drive towards Interoperability, what are some of the challenges that have been addressed, and what’s holding us back?
2. Are we working towards decentralized exchange or will repositories like HIEs, continue to have a place?
3. Is the information blocking provisions under the Cures Act really needed?
4. Will the patient story documented through clinical notes be lost with the standardization needed for seamless Interoperability?
5. When will the power of FHIR be used across the board?
6. What gaps in Interoperability were identified early with COVID19?
7. Finally, our moderator asks each panelist to pick a trajectory spot on how far along we are towards full, wide-scale Interoperability.  You will be surprised, I think, by the panelists’ responses.

PS Fun fact brought up by panelist John Nebergall in talking about APIs and faxing.  The first fax was sent in 1843!