Data Interoperability and Why It Matters in Clinical Decision Support

Today’s digital technology is making substantial inroads into the advancement of patient care in the United States. Solutions such as augmented reality, computer vision, and machine learning are rightly held up as vital tools for clinical decision support (CDS). They reduce diagnosis time and accuracy, ease the burden on overworked physicians, and contribute to increasingly successful and often life-saving outcomes.

In the current absence of adequate interoperability, however, the physician must make her decision with whatever limited data is immediately available or delay treatment while conducting investigations. She will perhaps need to contact a range of other providers to learn about the patient’s history or spend time researching for clues to aid diagnosis.

The path to solving the CDS interoperability conundrum is not about navigating technological challenges but overcoming business issues.