10 most common barriers to interoperability

Interoperability discussions continue to permeate the healthcare space, and recent government data suggests these discussions are necessary as less than half of providers are able to access clinical information from outside of their systems. Approximately four in 10 hospitals are able to access necessary clinical information electronically from outside providers or healthcare sources, according to a new ONC data brief outlining data from 2014.

When discussing interoperability, there are four exchange activities to look for: Finding health information from outside sources, sending information to other sources, receiving information from other sources and using the information. According to the data brief, 48 percent of hospitals report their providers query patient health information from outside sources. Seventy-eight percent of hospitals send patient summary care records, but just 46 percent received them. Forty percent of hospitals were able to use and integrate care summary records without manually entering the information.

Just 23 percent of hospitals conduct all four of these interoperable exchange activities.

The data brief outlined barriers to interoperability and electronic data exchange. Barriers fall under three categories: technical, operational and financial.

Technical barriers

1. Exchange partner lacks EHR or system to receive data: 59 percent
2. Exchange partners' EHR system is not capable of receiving data: 58 percent
3. Difficulty finding provider address: 45 percent
4. Difficulty matching or identifying patients: 24 percent
5. Not capable of electronically receiving data from outside sources: 16 percent
6. Not capable of electronically sending data to outside sources: 10 percent

Operational barriers

1. Difficult workflow to send from EHR system: 30 percent
2. Recipients indicate summary of care records are not useful: 26 percent
3. Don't normally share patient data with outside providers: 10 percent

Financial barriers

1. Additional costs to exchange data with outside providers: 25 percent

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