Interoperability a must for healthcare: Analysis

From point-of-care devices to nursing station desktops to at-home remote monitors, interoperability and connectivity standards must be in place to ensure that healthcare continues to evolve in this digital age, according to a new analysis from market research firm Frost & Sullivan.

The report points to vendor neutrality, alliances and digital gateways as key solutions to achieving interoperability between systems and devices that allow the sharing of information. But it also notes that more than half of healthcare providers do not have a workable information technology roadmap even though they acknowledge the role digital health can play in achieving greater efficiencies.

Luckily, technological advances in WiFi, Bluetooth and radio frequency identification are creating new options for both providers and vendors outside of the traditional interoperability standards of HL7, DICOM and Direct Project, the report says.