While HIMSS16 covered a vast array of information and HealthIT topics, two words continued to pop up in conversations, both live and on the #HIMSS16 Twitter feed: Interoperability and Cybersecurity.
The ScanSTAT Technologies team attended #HIMSS16 last week, exhibiting on the trade show floor and participating in a number of educational sessions. The show provided us with opportunities to connect with many of our colleagues in HealthIT, including a number of our great clients in attendance at the conference. We met many new people and enjoyed learning about the offerings they provide to the healthcare industry. Across all of our conversations while at The HIMSS16 Conference, it was clear that the 42,000+ attendees were engaged about the state of constant change in healthcare.
Interoperability
Interoperability was such a hot topic, it had its own dedicated showcase on the trade show floor! The showcase illustrated numerous patient case studies and how one’s health information flows through the many continuums of care. Anyone who follows healthcare technology knows this word is certainly buzzing right now! Interoperability continues to surface as a true need in the exchange of health information. There are high hopes across the HealthIT industry that interoperability can be a vital component of improvements to patient engagement and quality of care.
But one of the other key takeaways from HIMSS16 is that interoperability is not automation. It’s likely that no matter how far technology advances the healthcare industry or streamlines the transfer and sharing of data, the human element will likely never leave healthcare. So fear not if you haven’t figured out how to automate every process across your organization. The industry at large is also still trying to figure it all out and educational conferences like HIMSS propel our collective understanding forward.
At ScanSTAT Technologies, we already play an integral role in interoperability through our use of direct messaging within and among EHRs and health information service providers (HISPs). Through our eROI services, ScanSTAT serves as a conduit between patients, providers and other third-party requestors. Our Research and Development Team at ScanSTAT is hard at work ensuring our technology and workflow processes provide maximum interoperability for our clients and their medical records. We look forward to continuing our work to lead the industry in innovative services that address this need.
Sylvia Burwell, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HSS), was a featured speaker at HIMSS16. Burrell announced a large privately-funded coalition comprised of EHR vendors, healthcare systems and other invested professional organizations that will be searching for the best way forward for data-sharing within the industry. Ultimately, this coalition aims to create standards-based means for information exchange. Our ScanSTAT team is closely monitoring the progress of the newly formed coalition and we’ll be sure to keep you informed. Stay tuned!
Cybersecurity
Not only is cybersecurity a hot topic in healthcare, cybersecurity is crucial to every industry! The volume and context of the data we share in healthcare certainly makes the industry a target for increased hacking breaches. The news of several major hospital system security breaches have us all on guard and searching for ways to improve network security for the safety of our data.
Security has always been a top priority for our team at ScanSTAT. In 2015, ScanSTAT reported only 7 single patient breaches, all the while, distributing hundreds of thousands of records. In fact, ScanSTAT has never had a large breaches involving 500 patients or more.
Our clients turn to ScanSTAT to help them ensure the security of their medical records release process while mitigating their risk of noncompliance. We take that trust very seriously.
At ScanSTAT, we have some of the industry’s best minds working behind the scenes to ensure that our technology and the work we do for our clients remain complaint and secure. You’ll continue to hear updates from us about how we’re improving our cybersecurity measures, along with tips for enhancing your own measures!