12 Integration Capabilities EHRs Will Need to Have

Michelle McNickle | Healthcare IT News | March 6, 2012

With Stage 2 waiting in the wings, the focus is now shifting onto the electronic capture of health information and fostering data exchange at points of care transitions, said Shahid Shah, software analyst and author of the blog, The Healthcare IT Guy. And unlike meaningful use Stage 1, Stage 2 is looking to "raise the bar" and require true interoperability.

"Current generation EHRs already do some, if not most, of the requirements recommended for Stage 2," he said. "But the reason they won’t meet or exceed the requirements of modern interoperability is [because] next-generation EHRs need far more sophisticated integration capabilities, not just basic interoperability between systems as suggested by the MU Stage 2 NPRM."

Shah outlined 12 integration capabilities the next-generation of EHRs will need to have...