The healthcare industry is experiencing an ongoing digital transformation. This evolution is enabling professionals to deliver faster, more precise, and better-targeted care. In fact, technology plays such a pivotal role in enhancing the patient experience that 80% of health systems intend to increase investments in digital health over the coming years, according to a HIMSS report.
Yet, most medical digital solutions concentrate on enhancing organizational systems. They don’t empower patients to manage their personal health information (PHI). People may be able to access their medical records through diverse online portals, but there aren’t enough tools to merge the data.
Companies must develop more digital solutions that allow patients to receive, store, and send healthcare data within one platform.
The Push for Providers to Embrace Electronic Data Exchange
The pursuit of healthcare interoperability centers on organizations exchanging electronic health information (EHI). It’s a quest that’s led to innovations like Health Level Seven (HL7®) Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®), a standard for healthcare data exchange regardless of how information is stored. Numerous healthcare providers have embraced FHIR to achieve interoperability by 2024.
However, technology companies don’t prioritize solutions for patients to centralize healthcare data. Instead, multiple providers keep a person’s medical records. Then, the patient must track down their information through various apps and in-person visits.
How Digital Interoperability Solutions Fall Short for Patients
“The goal of data interoperability is to improve electronic reporting to public health and ultimately improve patient care,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This effort to facilitate easier exchange of EHI among organizations started with the HITECH Act in 2009. The law incentivized providers to transition from paper records to electronic health records (EHRs).
Though EHRs gained popularity, information remained challenging to share electronically. Since providers could use any vendor, data became siloed within different systems. Finally, in 2020, the ONC's Cures Act Final Rule mandated EHI export capability by December 31, 2023. Providers must adopt standardized application programming interfaces (APIs) so patients can access their EHI through their smartphones.
Despite the mandate set forth by the Final Rule, an issue remains unresolved. Patients must use various apps, logins, and passwords to retrieve EHI from multiple providers. Technology burdens patients to gather their data rather than giving people easy access to their EHI.
The Need for More Digital Solutions to Restore Patient Control
Companies must create technologies that allow patients to curate healthcare data from multiple organizations into a unified experience. Then, people can develop personalized health records (PHRs) and regain control over their EHI. These patient-centric digital solutions are powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology.
PHRs enable patients to assume a proactive role in managing their well-being. People can comprehensively understand their health status when they have instant access to their EHI in one place. This shift of power fosters a collaborative dynamic between physicians and patients—transforming the physician into a trusted partner and granting the patient complete control over their healthcare journey.
To learn more about patient-centric digital solutions, read our white paper, “Empowering Patients with Greater Ability to Access and Manage Their Health Data.”
