Complex Pediatric Home Health and the Potential of Interoperability

My greatest joy in life, my young son, also introduced the hardest challenges I have ever faced.

The thing is, when it comes to caring for family, most people can accomplish more than they ever previously imagined. I found out the hard way that I can operate a ventilator and care for a tracheostomy tube properly, all while navigating the challenges of just learning how to be a parent. My amazing wife was right there with me along the way of course – and better at it, if I’m being honest.

There are families right now beginning a journey into pediatric home health similar to the experiences my family has had. Looking back, I see the potential for better, faster and smarter health information technology to lessen the burdens other families might face in similar situations. That belief in potential drives me now, as a student in health information technology, to go forth into a career of making it so.

Among the many areas of complex pediatric home health, the opportunities that stand out most to me for health IT to offer improvements are in coordinating nursing care for complex discharges, improving the interoperability of nursing records created at home, and enabling easier reporting for home health patients.