EHR data interoperability

EHR data interoperability is gaining more popularity as the industry continues to discuss its benefits. Many EHR manufacturers are now starting to bring interoperable products to market.

Smiths Medical showcased its new PharmGuard Infusion Management Software with Interoperability Platform at the conference. The PharmGuard software wirelessly receives infusion therapy data from the Medfusion 4000 syringe infusion pump.

The interoperability software works by allowing the infusion data from the server to be wirelessly sent to the hospital’s EHR so clinicians can review and validate the information from one location. The software can also forward alerts generated from the syringe pump to alarm management applications using the IHE Alert Communication Management profile.

New risk management paradigm

Stephen L. Grimes, chief technology officer at ABM Healthcare Support Services, gave a talk that stressed the need for the health care technology management field and health care delivery organizations to embrace risk management more.

Organizations are continually implementing new health care technologies, and risk management is needed to identify, analyze, and control the risks associated with it. But Grimes said the new risk management paradigm must be relatively simple and effective in order for facilities to implement it.

In order to apply a risk matrix to medical devices like defibrillators or ophthalmoscopes, risk must be assigned by the device category and then the differences in risk between manufacturers, models, locations and devices must be assessed.

“Clinicians most often are in the best position to make the best judgment in terms of severity of levels or potential consequences of failure,” said Grimes. “Clinical engineers or HTM professionals are best at assessing probability.”

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