Healthcare interoperability is being slowed by financial and cultural challenges as well as technological challenges, according to an article on the Healthcare IT News website.
Lack of standardization, fear of new procedures, or data gaps in EHR systems is slowing progress toward the goal of securely exchange accurate patient data across healthcare providers.
Advancing interoperability requires that technical and business process/policy challenges are addressed together, instead of in isolation, so that there's an integration of technology and policy workflows and scaling, the article said.
"Simply putting the technology in peoples' hands isn't enough," said Steven Posnack, director of the Office of Standards and Technology for the Office of the National Coordinator in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.