A New World Of Healthcare Transformation: Interoperability And Connected Devices

By Megan Williams, contributing writer

A new body of research from Frost & Sullivan examines the relationship between connected devices, interoperability, and the transformation of healthcare delivery. Their recently released preview report examines some of the highlights from the research.

Market Overview

The report is oriented toward examining the shift in the industry in multiple areas including:

• Approach: From one-size-fits-all to personalized medicine
• Information Flow: From fragmented, one-way communication to integrated, two way methods
• Focus: From a provider-centric focus to a patient-centric one
• Reimbursement: From a procedure-based model to bundled, capitated models
• Location: From centralized, hospital-based models to more decentralized, community-based ones
• Clinical Decision Making: From fragmented and specialized processes to collaborative ones that share information
• Care Delivery: From a focus on treatment to a focus on wellness and prevention

With this shift, according to the report, will come a new emphasis on diagnosis, monitoring, and prevention — all of which will require new approaches to integration and increased use of technology. According to the report, “The effectiveness of this shift toward diagnosis and monitoring will depend, to a large extent, on connected health infrastructure, a model that uses technology to improve the efficiency of healthcare delivery. It includes the entire ecosystem of healthcare IT solutions and supporting network infrastructure.”

Levels Of Interoperability

The report also includes a breakdown of the traits of healthcare systems as they progress from low interoperability to high:

• Low-Functional: Data is exchanged between solutions, but interpretation is not involved.
• Moderate-Structural: A structure or format for the exchange of data is established, ensuring that clinical and operational meaning of data remains constant. Data can be interpreted.
• High-Semantic: Interpretation can occur between two systems and is the highest level of interoperability. Exchange can even be achieved between disparate solutions.

Challenges

As the industry moves toward more connectedness, manufacturers will face challenges including a lack of experience around IT tools, a lack of standardization and proactive culture, and high costs associated with the need for frequent upgrades in imbedded systems.

Providers will face timelines around MU (Meaningful Use) initiatives, managing the multiple companies and contacts needed to enable connectivity, and high costs around coding and software upgrades needed to pass reviews.

The full preview is available here for download.