Integration, Interoperability & Consumer Engagement

Any discussion in health and human services involves lots of talk about integrated systems and "interoperability"—see What's In A Name and The Future Of EHR-Collaborate, Connect, Communicate. But the key strategic issue for specialist organizations is that to participate in integration, your organization's data systems need to be interoperable.

What does "interoperable" mean? Interoperability is the ability to share health care data, and interpret that shared data, among organizations. Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) explains, "for two systems to be interoperable, they must be able to exchange data and subsequently present that data such . . .