Oracle: Interoperable Healthcare Systems 'Vital'

Healthcare IT systems are almost by definition sprawling, complex and groaning with data. Some may also be legacy, and less able to work alongside newer and more technologically advanced systems. But the inoperability of such systems is vital. Sometimes, it can be a matter of life and death. 

The world's largest database management company, Oracle, is currently building an open healthcare platform with intelligent tools for data-driven, human-centric healthcare experiences to connect consumers, healthcare providers, payers, and public health and life sciences organisations.

"Interoperability projects were originally focused on systems within a single health enterprise," says Oracle. "Now efforts are underway to develop interoperable systems that span the healthcare ecosystem, including providers, patients, payers, regulators, and researchers—at national and global levels."

Oracle defines interoperability as “the capacity for each system on a network to communicate with other systems to share, consolidate and use data”. 

It adds that data on interoperable applications and systems is accessible, accurate, and secure and happens with “minimal human interaction”. 

“Interoperability is possible only when all stakeholders – healthcare organisations, governments and payers – agree on the standards, technologies, and terminology needed for the exchange of data between diverse systems”, it says.

What is interoperability in healthcare?

This, says Oracle, is when disparate health data systems share data, “regardless of geographic location”, and that they allow this data “to be used by providers, researchers, and public health managers to improve patient experiences and community health”. 

The goal, it says, is to create a network of shared health data so that providers can access complete, accurate patient data no matter where the patient has previously received care. 

Oracle says: “This allows clinicians to make better decisions and provide better care, patients to take ownership of their data and care options, and community leaders to act on early warning signs of public health issues.”

Why is healthcare interoperability important?

Oracle points out that, when data flows among patients, providers, payers and community health organisations, healthcare is more efficient and cost-effective, and health outcomes improve. 

It gives as an example the CommonWell Health Alliance, a vendor-neutral platform – comprising 34,000 provider sites and 231 million patients – that gives providers access to a nationwide network of comprehensive patient data, not just data from a single facility or system. Its goal, Oracle says, “is helping to improve care coordination and health outcomes across the US”.

Benefits of healthcare interoperability

Oracle details multiple benefits, including:

• Improved patient care  Patients “clearly benefit when their doctor has access to their complete medical record”, says Oracle, adding that these benefits are even more marked “in emergency situations in which the patient is unable to communicate clearly”. 
• Reduced physician burden  New electronic health record (EHR) tools are reducing the burden on physicians by putting high-quality data from multiple sources in a single place, as well as embedding AI, to automatically generate patient updates and analysis. 
  It does point out, though, that  this creates new challenges. 
  “When you tell physicians you’re making a lot more data available to them the response is more often a grimace than a smile because it represents more work to sift through it for relevant information,” says Sam Lambson, Oracle Health’s VP for interoperability. 
  She adds that this is why tools able to pull in third-party clinical data, compare it with existing data, and determine what's new and high-quality are crucial. 
• Empowering patients  Giving patients access to their health data is one of the core benefits of system interoperability, says Oracle. 
  “Patients are better able to seek second opinions and alternative treatments, download educational materials that can help with disease management, and access their own diagnoses and test results,” it says.~
  “They no longer need to hunt down records from multiple providers and remember when and where they sought treatment, which medications they’ve been prescribed, and the details of their treatment plans,” Oracle adds.
• Reducing costs  Many of the cost savings from improved healthcare interoperability result from better patient care, points out Oracle. 
  “This in turn reduces hospital stays, complications, and unnecessary care, such as redundant tests,” it adds.
  Oracle also says interoperable systems can reduce administrative time and costs by automating prescription management, allowing doctors to connect directly to pharmacy systems, and relieving clinical staff of mundane data entry tasks that occur when data needs to be copied manually into a different system.