Sharing Isn't So Easy

Standards that facilitate the sharing of electronic medical records between health care providers still aren't perfect, according to members of the federal advisory Health IT Standards Committee.

Government Health IT reports that while the new certification and standards final rule from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT do allow some additional flexibility for how patient information is entered and used, the guidelines may not be specific enough.

For example, the Veterans Affairs and Defense departments use C32, a standard format recommended by the ONC. C32 includes information about a patient's medical status but can be tailored based on an organization's needs. That flexibility may work for sharing data on some levels but not on others, the article states, which has left the agencies unable to pass records back and forth.

With the first stage of meaningful use, "we pushed the ball a little further down field. But I don't think we have sufficient specificity to guarantee interoperability," [said Dr. Doug Fridsma, acting director of ONC's standards and interoperability office]. At the same time, too much specificity can preclude innovation. "We're still trying to get this right," he said.