HIMSS, the health IT industry’s largest professional organization, defines interoperability as, "the ability of different information systems, devices and applications (‘systems’) to access, exchange, integrate and cooperatively use data in a coordinated manner, within and across organizational, regional and national boundaries, to provide timely and seamless portability of information and optimize the health of individuals and populations globally.”
At Surescripts, interoperability means fewer faxes, phone calls, surprises and less administrative burden, manual rework and guesswork so our partners can spend more time with patients. Driven by our purpose, “to serve the nation with the single most trusted and capable health information network,” Surescripts has worked for nearly 20 years to advance healthcare interoperability and support our customers across the Surescripts Network Alliance with the secure exchange of health information to improve patient safety, lower costs and ensure quality care.
And now, we’re being recognized for it. Black Book Research recently named Surescripts the leading comprehensive technology solution for interoperability and patient data sharing platforms in their annual crowdsourced poll of more than 1,500 end-users. Black Book Research measured interoperability customer satisfaction across 20 vendor key performance indicators. Surescripts received top scores in HIE stakeholder alignment, data usability/trust/neutrality, data reliability/accuracy/continuity, data integrity, ease of data transmittal and exchange, widespread interoperability and flexibility, quality reporting services and communications, customer service and support, configuration and interfaces, and vendor agnostic culture and practice.
In 2019, Surescripts processed more than 19 billion secure health data transactions nationwide among virtually all electronic health records (EHR) vendors, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), pharmacies, clinicians, health plans, long-term and post-acute care organizations, specialty hubs and specialty pharmacy organizations. And we connected care providers with actionable patient information for more than 95% of U.S. patients, including medication and clinical history data that provided a more complete picture of patients’ health history for better-informed and safer care decisions.
Despite the fact that everyone in healthcare is dealing with mounting challenges in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, this survey shows that our users recognize the value of the technology we deliver. It’s more important than ever that we continue to work together with our partners to remove barriers to the exchange of electronic health information and improve interoperability.
Learn more about what Surescripts is doing to advance interoperability.