The field of technology has seen huge advances over the years. The field of medicine has not been left behind with regard to this. It has implemented technology in various areas, a very notable one being recordkeeping (Vincent, 2010). Despite its obvious potential, EHR faces a lot of limitations, the one at hand being interoperability.
Privacy concern is one factor that leads to difficulty in EHR interoperability. A large number of patients and even doctors prefer to have their records kept private. This is understandable as some of the information may be embarrassing or even damaging were it to come out (Porter, & Teisberg, 2006). By reserving the right to privacy, coordination of EHR systems becomes rather difficult to achieve. If EHR systems were to be programmed in such a way that they filter the very confidential details and only transfer the information that both the doctors and patients feel comfortable with, maybe then they would be open to the idea of EHR interoperability.
There is probably hundreds of EHR software in existence. Each comes with its own unique architecture. Some medical institutions and practitioners even prefer to have EHR software custom-made to their liking. A standard format for all the software is therefore nearly but not entirely impossible to achieve. There is need for a set standard of functionality to be used in the development of EHR systems (Elhauge, 2010). Even if they won't be designed to be entirely alike, they should be developed in such a way as to have a feature that helps them link and coordinate with other EHR systems.
Friedberg, et al, (2015), some vendors of EHR systems are resistant to the idea of making their products interoperable. They purposefully block information with the intention of selling it later at exorbitant fees. This is bad for patients who may be seeking treatment from different medical institutions, but extremely financially viable for the system vendors (Group Health Association of America, 2010). Laws and checks should be put in place to clamp those involved in this practice and also to put an end to this culture. Tough penalties should be imposed on those who promote practices that lead to difficulty in EHR interoperability.
References
Elhauge, E. (2010). The fragmentation of U.S. health care: Causes and solutions. New York: Oxford University Press.
Friedberg, M. W., Rand Corporation, RAND Health., & American Medical Association,. (2015). Effects of health care payment models on physician practice in the United States.
Group Health Association of America. (2010). The Group health journal. Washington, D.C.: Group Health Association of America.
Porter, M. E., & Teisberg, E. O. (2006). Redefining health care: Creating value-based competition on results.
United States. (2006). Examination of quality of care under Medicare's prospective payment system: Hearing before the Committee on Finance, United States Senate, Ninety-ninth Congress, second session, June 3, 1986. Washington: U.S. G.P.O.
Vincent, C. (2010). Patient safety. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.
