As the healthcare industry moves closer to full scale implementation of health information exchanges and integrated delivery networks, the call for data integrity and interoperability standards has grown increasingly louder to help ensure that data quality isn’t compromised so physicians and patients can have complete confidence in the information reflected by their electronic health records. We interviewed John Donnelly, President of IntePro Solutions in Colonia NJ and an expert in healthcare technology standards, interoperability and innovation about data integrity and data standardization protocols in the context of the shift to electronic medical records and the subsequent data sharing across health information exchanges.

1. M2SYS Technology TM
Free Online Learning Podcasts
Healthcare Data Integrity and Interoperability Standards with John
Donnelly, MBA, M.Sc, CPHIMS – President of IntePro Solutions, Inc.
Podcast length – 35:34

2. Topics Covered in Podcast:
Healthcare’s major challenges sharing data across HIEs
Changes to health systems strategic vision of quality healthcare
Impact of data visibility on patient-provider relationship
Patient identification’s affect on data integrity in HIEs & future
technologies for patient identification in healthcare
HIEs effect on State privacy and security regulations
Most important HIE aspects for patient education

3. Healthcare’s Major Challenges Sharing Data Across
HIEs
Challenges:
• Technological
• Patient identification
• Dealing with outside sourced data
• Security & information exchange on mobile devices
• Business
• Defining who owns the medical record
• Patient treatment coordination from multiple providers
• Interpreting healthcare analytics
Did you know?
John has over 35 years of experience in the
development and implementation of
information technology solutions in a variety
of industries.

4. Changes to Health Systems Strategic Vision of
Quality Healthcare
• Meaningful Use reimbursements altered health systems’
strategic direction
• Health IT began to more closely reassess system partners
• Who are they?
• What value do they bring?
• Identifying and curating quality care teams
• Defining what differentiates themselves from their peers
Did you know?
John serves as a HIMSS Strategic Advisor
on the topic of healthcare interoperability
throughout the world and the effective
testing and demonstration in national and
international venues.

5. Impact of Data Visibility on Patient-Provider
Relationship
• First, patient must now be considered as a partner
• Provider becomes less directive and more collaborative
• Patient will have more active role in maintaining medical record
data integrity
• Providers will more step up patient data portal web guidance
ensuring quality data and mentoring patients
Did you know?
The state of Georgia is the nation’s
healthcare IT capital with more than 186
health IT firms operating there including
some of the world’s largest like McKesson
Technology Solutions.

6. The Effect of Patient Identification on Data Integrity in HIEs
• It is the single most important element of effective and accurate HIEs,
extremely critical to the process
• Patient identification has gone from casual to mission critical; it’s a
fundamental building block of data accuracy
• Closer scrutiny of processes used to identify patients & who has
access to patient data
• Healthcare adopting more stringent security measures for system
access including multi-factor authentication (biometrics as an
example); raises “assurance” bar that those interacting with data are
authorized
• Cultural naming conventions present complexities in accurately
identifying patients, especially in urban areas

7. Future Technologies for Patient Identification in
Healthcare
• Biometrics
• Two-factor authentication
• Barcoding (especially prior to medication dispension)
• Leveraging smart phone technology
Did you know?
Accurate Patient Identification has been number
one on the list of the Joint Commission’s
Hospital National Patient Safety Goals since 2003.

8. HIEs Effect on State Privacy and Security Regulations
• Privacy and security should be treated as separate entities
• Not as much worry over security for information exchanges because
of success in other industries
• Privacy will be a larger issue
• Debating the benefits of an opt-in approach
• Clear and effective communication to patients of HIE purpose
• State boundaries will become an issue
• Have to figure out a way to share consent and patient input across
boundaries
• Changes are definitely imminent, and may require federal or state
legislation

9. Educating Patients on Most Important Aspects of HIE
• Most challenging is educating in opt-in States
• Ensure patient is aware of HIE purpose
• What impact this has on a provider sharing patient data
throughout a network
• Net result of HIE is a better care delivery model
• HIE intended to improve care coordination
• Patients need to be control point – making sure their identification is
consistent across providers
• Emphasizing the critical nature of accurate patient identification
• Industry is attempting to move from a sickness model to a wellness
model
• Patients need to participate in maintaining their health

10. Bonus – John’s Thoughts on Healthcare Literacy for
Patients
• Patient portals act as legitimate healthcare data resources
• Standards on horizon for access to knowledge base/knowledge
resource focused on patient level education and literacy – intended
to take medical jargon and provide interpretation for patient
• Providers will start to develop more readable and understandable
healthcare lexicons for patients
• Patient empowerment will be key – measured steps must be taken to
create level playing field for all

11. Bonus – John’s Thoughts on How M&A Affects Data
Integrity & Interoperability
• Key is leveraging interoperability standards as linchpin
• If healthcare can move industry to having a standard way of
exchanging across boundaries then M&A process should be a little
easier due to existing
• When interoperability standards are embraced, M&A will become
easier to accomplish from a technology ad data support perspective

12. Thank you to John Donnelly for lending us
his time and knowledge for this podcast!

13. Contact Information
John Trader
PR and Marketing
M2SYS Technology
1050 Crown Pointe Pkwy.
Suite 470
Atlanta, GA 30338
jtrader@m2sys.com
770-821-1734
www.m2sys.com
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