Health IT interoperability remains

Interoperability of electronic health records remains a bridge too far for many providers, despite more than a decade of federal emphasis on information exchange and $29.1 billion spent on federal EHR

incentive payments that were ostensibly tied to meaningful-use requirements mandating interoperable computer systems.Only 11% of respondents to this year’s 25th annual Modern Healthcare Survey of Executive Opinions on Key Health Information Technology Issues said their organizations were able to routinely exchange electronic patient information with other providers across the country.That meager showing comes 11 years after President George W. Bush created the Office of the National Coordinator for Health In-formation Technology with a mandate to implement a “nationwide interoperable health information technology infrastructure.”Interoperability is shaping up to be a key feature of this week’s Health Information and Management Systems Society convention in Chicago, where Bush is booked as a keynote speaker on Wednesday. ONC chief Dr. Karen DeSalvo will press the government’s case for interoperability in her keynote speech Thursday.