Health Care Data Interoperability on the Way

Great News!  A collaborative solution for portable medical records is currently in the works to address the lack of health care data interoperability, which is a major downfall in our current health care system.  This vendor neutral platform, led by CommonWell Health Alliance, will hopefully be the first step in lowering medical costs for all Americans.  The nationwide infrastructure will allow patients and healthcare providers secure access to a patient’s data, such as test results, medical imaging records, and healthcare history, regardless of where the patient receives care.  Centralized access to patient data and information will reduce the unnecessary cost of duplicate testing and will increase the efficiency and quality of care. 

Here is what CommonWell Health Alliance has to say about their mission:

“The CommonWell Health Alliance plans to promote and certify a national infrastructure with common standards and policies and will ensure that products that display the CommonWell Health Alliance seal have been certified to work on the national infrastructure. Among the early core components of the national infrastructure, CommonWell Health Alliance will define and promote the following core services and standards:

• Patient Linking and Matching - Provide a way for vendors to identify patients as they move from setting to setting, in a robust and seamless industry-wide data environment.
• Patient Access and Consent Management - Foster a HIPAA-compliant, patient-controlled means to simplify the management of consents and authorizations for data sharing.
• Record Locator Service and Directed Query - Enable providers to match the locations of a patient’s previous health care encounters, no matter where the encounter occurred, and gain access to that data in an industry standard way.”
Reference:  http://www.commonwellalliance.org

Working with Children’s Hospitals across the country, Melnic Consulting Group has the opportunity to learn about a variety of EMR systems and is excited to witness this collaboration.  Linking hospitals and practice records will give patients the opportunity to benefit and Nurse Practitioners the tools they need to manage complex patient care.  Melnic Consulting Group enjoys being a resource to hospitals, Nurse Practitioners and Nurse Leaders, as they work together to solve the challenges of defining the future of health care.

To inquire about pediatric nursing jobs visit Melnic Consulting Group or contact: Jill Gilliland 800-886-7906 jill@melnic.com