Interoperability for improved care coordination amid COVID 19

How healthcare providers can leverage interoperability across the care continuum for improved care coordination and patient empowerment. COVID-19 has brought up the issue of fragmented health information again, making interoperability of health data paramount. Therefore, there could have been no better time for the interoperability and patient access rule.

The rule helps improve the decision-making process for physicians and health systems by connecting siloed information across the care continuum. According to Grahame Grieve, the founder of HL7 FHIR, interoperability is all about people and connecting their health stories across different specialties, visits and consults across multiple locations. Connecting the health story of an individual holds valuable clues to the diagnosis and treatment.