While the federal government has delayed implementation of new interoperability requirements due to COVID-19, the outbreak itself has reinforced the need for improved data sharing between healthcare stakeholders. In a new article published in MedCity News, Cotiviti CEO Emad Rizk, M.D., outlines why payers and providers shouldn’t lose sight of their focus on interoperability.
“By placing intense strain on healthcare organizations and forcing them to do more with less time and resources, the COVID-19 pandemic has been exacerbated by healthcare’s lack of interoperability while also demonstrating the many challenges standing in the way. Initiatives like setting up alternative care sites to handle the surge of patients, tracking which patients have already been tested and the type of tests, or even ensuring ED doctors have a complete medical history have been slowed due to longstanding issues around data sharing.”
Read his commentary to learn:
- The broad benefits of interoperability, such as informed and personalized care decisions
- The learning opportunities from COVID-19 that underscore the urgent need for interoperability
- The ideal future of interoperability, including the development of a single patient identifier
