Electronic Health Records: Is Corporate Profitability Key to Innovation?

Innovation in the electronic health record (EHR) segment has been long overdue. The primary cause of the lack of innovation is the issue with data interoperability between various platforms. Different hospitals across the nation have different platforms to collect patient healthcare records. These platforms are not compatible with each other. Several standards or specifications such as HL7 and FHIR 4 are another reason for the complexity of data exchange.

The issue with interoperability is further manifested at the consumer end. EHR consumers may be long-term care (LTC) facilities or certain end-user apps such as those provided by Apple or Google. The end consumers may be on a standard that is not compatible with the source standard.

For the purposes of this article, adult daycare, nursing home, rehabilitation centers, mental institutions, hospice care, and a skilled nursing facility are considered as LTC facilities. LTC facilities usually work with an EHR vendor to maintain their patient health records.

In the end, everyone suffers because of issues related to data interoperability. Corporations such as hospitals and LTC facilities suffer because several costs that could be reduced with a seamlessly connected EHR system cannot be reduced. Patients suffer because of increased costs and a delay in receiving quality care.