Growing Expectations for Interoperability and Health Care Data Sharing

Over the last decade, all 5 national coordinators for health information technology have discussed the importance of connecting health care data, but the timing is finally right now, Karen B. DeSalvo, MD, current National Coordinator for Health Information Technology for HHS, said during the closing keynote session at the US News Hospital of Tomorrow conference in Washington, DC, on October 8.

There are a few reasons why the situation is different in the country. For instance, payment reform is driving a need not only to collect data, but put it to use to improve health care and patients’ lives.

“There is now data to be shared, and you can almost palpably feel it pushing,” she said. “There’s a consumer expectation that it will be available for their use with their consent.”

Read the full story from AJMC.com here.