The healthcare industry is one of the most important industries for our survival. We often depend on doctors, physicians, and medical shops for wellness. However, healthcare isn’t everything about the surgery and physical operations. In today’s era, healthcare entities have to take help from software systems and applications to provide the best care to the patient. One of the biggest examples is the use of patient data via a dedicated software system. Healthcare entities are enhancing their IT infrastructure to offer better services. In 2022, you can even find business process automation in the healthcare industry. Among all the IT challenges for healthcare entities, achieving interoperability is a major concern. Read on to know how healthcare entities can achieve interoperability in 2022.

Understanding interoperability in healthcare

Before we jump to the right solutions, you should be clear about the meaning of interoperability in healthcare. Interoperability is defined as the capability of an information system, device, or application to share and integrate data. Several types of data are exchanged in the healthcare industry, like patient history, medical history, bill payment history, insurance information, and treatment history. With high interoperability, information systems and devices can easily exchange and integrate data. Apart from seamless portability, interoperability also helps health professionals perform their job easily.

Interoperability is needed to use data in a coordinated manner when required. Exchange of data can occur between different departments of a healthcare entity. Exchange of data can also occur between two healthcare organizations. The exchange of healthcare data can also occur within regional or national boundaries. Organizations often look for healthcare IT support service offerings that can boost interoperability. For exchanging healthcare data, there is a rule to be followed by organizations. The rule is to use the healthcare data appropriately without any foul play.

A healthcare organization has the responsibility of sensitive data of the patients. For example, a healthcare organization cannot forward the insurance details to an unauthorized person. The insurance information can be accessed by a fraudster to steal the money from the patient. There can be many instances where patient data can be misused by unauthorized persons. For the same reason, healthcare organizations have to share data securely via applications, software systems, and devices. The primary job of a healthcare organization is to provide best care to the patients. They aren’t equipped with the right tools to enhance their IT infrastructure. In 2022, healthcare entities understand the importance of patient care technology and safety. To achieve interoperability and overcome other IT challenges, the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare has started. Let us know different levels of interoperability and how AIOps (Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations) can help.

Level of interoperability

The four levels of interoperability in healthcare are as follows:

• The first or the lowest level of interoperability is the ability of a system/application to share information with another system/application. Usually, this level of interoperability is observed within a healthcare organization. For example, doctors can access patient test reports from the laboratory with the help of an interoperable IT infrastructure. They can do so with the help of software systems and reduce the need for physical test reports (paper reports).
• The second level of interoperability is also referred to as the structural level. This level defines the structure/syntax of the data to be shared across organizations, applications, and devices. Data has to be organized and formatted at the data field level before sharing.
• The third level of interoperability is referred to as the semantic level. There should be some rules for sharing data with different healthcare organizations. The semantic level helps create standardized definitions, coding vocabularies, and more.
• The fourth and highest level of interoperability is the organizational level. For secure and timely exchange of data, there needs to be a set of policies. Apart from determining data exchange policies, governance is also established in this level of interoperability.

Most healthcare entities are now focusing on better Health Information Sharing and Data Sharing. The goal is to facilitate access to healthcare data whenever needed. With a quick and safe exchange of data, healthcare professionals can achieve much more. Apart from offering quality care to patients, efficient data exchange can pace the treatment process. However, healthcare organizations aren’t equipped to handle IT-related tasks. It is why they need a better solution to maintain interoperability and facilitate quick and safe access to healthcare data.

AIOps: The solution you need to be fully interoperable

If it were for organizations, they would have achieved interoperability by now. The need for AI tools for digital transformation in the healthcare industry has increased because traditional solutions failed. The challenges faced by healthcare entities in becoming fully interoperable are as follows:

• The biggest challenge is to facilitate the safe passage of data between systems and healthcare organizations. Security & compliance remains a great concern for healthcare entities around the globe.
• Keeping up with the data standards is a challenge for healthcare entities. There are strict standards for exchanging health information in every country.
• To become interoperable using traditional methods, healthcare organizations must spend a lot. It is why AI in healthcare IT solutions is needed to slash overall IT cost.
• To take action on data exchange and access, a healthcare organization uses its internal staff. The internal staff of any healthcare organization may not know the handling of data and ensuring safe access at all times.
• Data in the healthcare industry is heterogeneous. The industry is struggling to collect and share healthcare data from different sources.

As you can see, several challenges prevent healthcare organizations from becoming fully interoperable. AIOps-led systems will ensure the safe passage of data between applications and devices across the IT infrastructure. The best AIOps tools and products will help collect heterogeneous data from different sources. The best part is that AIOps can collect heterogeneous data from all sources without any human intervention. AIOps-led solutions can also prevent unauthorized access to data. With the complexity of healthcare data increasing, organizations need to reduce the manual load. Adopt AIOps for becoming fully interoperable in 2022!