Add to favorites

#Product Trends

A Few Problems Medical Professionals Face with EHR Compatibility

EHRs are tools physicians use daily but that doesn't mean they aren't hassle free. Learn about the main compatibility issues providers face with this essential tool and how these pain points are being addressed.

According to HealthIt, more than 95% of hospitals and office-based physicians have started utilizing EHR software. It’s clear use of EHR software has become the majority standard in a decade. Medical professionals stick by this method of health IT and information monitoring because it reduces error, streamlines processes, and ensures patient satisfaction. However, that doesn’t suggest that EHRs are snag-free. Many sources note that medical professionals are raising concerns about one of the most pressing aspects of EHR software: EHR Compatibility.

What is EHR Compatibility?

EHR compatibility refers to a single EHR software’s ability to communicate and share data with other medical systems.

Once a patient is discharged from the hospital, if they need to seek out specialized care from a doctor or physical therapist that uses a different EHR software, it’s a gamble as to how clearly these two different systems can share patient data. Oftentimes, important data can be completely omitted or wrong values could be imported for crucial measurements such as medicine dosages.

But for those a little more inquisitively minded, the question of what causes this translation error must be asked. And the answer boils down to what’s called the CCD, or continuing care document.

In EHR Compatibility, the CCD is What Matters Most

The CCD, per Wikipedia, is an “XML-based markup standard intended to specify the encoding, structure, and semantics of a patient summary clinical document for exchange.” This document is widely shared among medical computers and EHR devices.

While not a complete medical record, the CCD includes just the most crucial information for effective medical care. It should be viewable via any standard web browser, but some voices lament that’s not always the case with a lot of EHR software, which leads to one of the most prevalent problems in healthcare IT…

EHR Compatibility Can be Terrible Because of Proprietary Formatting

Not every EHR software exports a CCD that will be read by another. EHR compatibility problems can arise even within hospitals—not just on a hospital to hospital transfer—if their IT departments decide on conflicting software environments. Sometimes medical professionals have to print EHR documents and transcribe them to another platform, introducing human error and lengthening a typically automated process.

EHR has been a wide success because of the Meaningful Use program and the HITECH Act, but medical staff still spend time bothering with menial tasks getting information from A to B. Because of this, healthcare companies are encouraging EHR software developers to start using open format file types instead of proprietary.

EHR Compatibility Depends on the Medical Computer

Certain medical computers, while meeting FDA standards for near-patient use, aren’t compatible with all EHR systems—some monitors operate on a 4:3 aspect ratio, while EHR systems may utilize a 16:9 ratio to display a full gamut of patient information.

A computer with an incompatible display may reject software installation or could limit the functionality of the software. Furthermore, highly advanced EHR systems require two-factor authentication, and if a system isn’t equipped with hardware to scan authentication methods, it may likely reject installation.

A Way Out of EHR Compatibility Concern

Epic is one of the most prominent EHR systems used in the medical industry because interoperability is a key aspect of the Epic EHR system. The Sequoia Project is also an organization that advocates for nationwide health information exchange, and Carequality is a project within Sequoia designed to address interoperability between all parties in a healthcare IT network.

As for now, EHR compatibility and interoperability within your own facility can be addressed by ensuring all computers running a specific EHR remain in the same local “network.” Having a unified system with similar hardware cuts down on training time and bypasses any compatibility problems. Ensuring that the computers that run the EHR software are certified for that software is a must too.

The Future of Data Sharing

Hopefully in the near future we’ll see a unified, open format data file shareable among all EHR systems so we can focus on patient health instead of the technology supporting it. Until then, the most individual facilities can do is ensure their own internal EHR compatibility and medical device interoperability are up to snuff. For more information on what medical technology can help facilitate that, contact an expert from Cybernet today.

Details

  • 5 Holland, Irvine, CA 92618, USA
  • Cybernet Manufacturing