In a STAT op-ed, Jonathan Bush, CEO and president of athenahealth, argues that the healthcare industry should move away from "outdated software" and toward a system of health IT networks.
"Healthcare practitioners and organizations of all sizes need real-time information and connection to learn from and share information with one another," Mr. Bush writes.
To achieve this goal, he suggests healthcare organizations embrace automation, knowledge and data insights that come with updated health IT processes, rather than continuing to rely on paper records and fax machine communication.
Mr. Bush suggests taking a cue from innovative hospitals who have leveraged mobile connections to facilitate communication between patients and providers, not to mention other healthcare facilities, like pharmacies and imaging centers.
"2017 should be the year in which the legacy information technology solutions used by so many healthcare providers hear their death knell, and health information networks begin their ascendance," he writes.