The professionals treating Eddie need to gather as much information about his medical background as possible – existing conditions, allergies, medications, care plans and so on. 

They need to get this information from any organisations that have been involved in Eddie’s healthcare. This could include the care home, his GP, district nurses, social services and more. 

The hospital may be able to share data with some organisations through direct integration. However, this can only connect one organisation with one other. Since it requires a separate connection with each organisation, the practitioners may need to go through the process of accessing data several times to get the information they need. This causes delays in diagnosis and treatment.

Furthermore, direct integration isn’t always possible because the systems and technology of two different organisations may not be compatible. When this happens, medical professionals at the hospital must contact other organisations by telephone to get the information they need, causing further delays.

Sometimes, they even rely on patients to provide information, which is risky when their condition impairs their cognitive function. 

These inefficient methods of communication could result in a delay of several hours before Eddie’s illness is properly diagnosed and treated. Even then, the information obtained might be out of date or incomplete, resulting in inaccurate decisions about his healthcare. 

This increases the risk of poor healthcare outcomes. Of course, it could turn out that Eddie didn’t need hospital care after all. In that case, other patients who were in genuine need of hospital care would be denied the bed taken up by Eddie as he waited for a decision to be made.

Now let’s look at the ways in which that situation would have been much better had the hospital and its partner organisations implemented interoperability to join up patient information using the Medical Interoperability Gateway (MIG). 

Healthcare with interoperability

Time is of the essence

As the strain on the NHS’s resources increases, anything that reduces the time taken to make medical decisions is invaluable.

With the MIG, staff at the hospital can access Eddie’s comprehensive medical data in real-time, the moment he arrives. 

No multiple sign-ins to different systems, no phone calls chasing information, no distressing conversations trying to get him to remember his medications. 

They have all the information they need to act swiftly. Not only does this give Eddie the best chance of recovery, but it’s also great news for other patients. 

Once clinicians have made their informed decisions about Eddie’s care, they’re free to see other patients. Additionally, diagnosing and treating him quickly means it’s more likely he’ll be discharged sooner rather than later, freeing up the bed for someone else in need. 

Detailed data = accurate decisions

Connecting the medical data from all of the organisations involved in Eddie’s healthcare provides a truly holistic picture of his medical background.

The more information healthcare professionals have, the more likely they are to make clinically safe and accurate decisions about his diagnosis and treatment. 

They no longer need to fill in the gaps through unreliable means such as out-of-date records and the patient’s memory. 

With the MIG, data is updated in real-time. In the same way that an online banking app shows a transaction moments after it’s completed, any new information on Eddie’s record is immediately accessible across the entire network of organisations. 

This greatly increases the likelihood of effective care and reduces the risk of errors that could lead to readmission or worse. 

A better patient experience

Interoperability makes the jobs of medical professionals a lot easier, and this leads to many benefits for the patients.

Naturally, the longer a patient stays in hospital, the greater the risk of mental distress, catching infections and physical deconditioning. The good news for Eddie is that the chances of him suffering from the effects of a long stay in hospital are reduced.

Not only is he more likely to be diagnosed and treated sooner, but staff can also quickly establish the most suitable alternative setting where Eddie can continue to receive care if necessary.

A further benefit for patients and their families is the reduction of uncertainty. It can be distressing for patients (and their relatives whose loved one is ill) when medical staff are unable to give them a prognosis as they don’t yet have enough information.

With access to Eddie’s complete and up-to-date medical profile through the MIG, staff would likely be able to provide this much more quickly. This would give Eddie and his family a degree of clarity and reassurance. 

What’s more, neither he nor his relatives will need to face uncomfortable questions about his medical history or repeat his story to every professional involved in his care. 

Conclusion

Eddie’s scenario demonstrates the importance of interoperability in healthcare. Instant access to his complete medical data could save hours through swifter diagnoses, reduced time in hospital and fewer readmissions due to errors.

The NHS deals with thousands of patients like Eddie every year. If every healthcare provider dealing with them brought interoperability into their systems, the cumulative gains in efficiency and quality of care across the service would be phenomenal.

But hospital admissions are just one area where interoperability can lead to great improvements. It can bring huge advantages in all areas of healthcare.

Sirona Care & Health was able to greatly improve the efficiency of its range of community services by linking with Connecting Care, an extensive MIG-supported data-sharing project.

And since the West Midlands Ambulance Service integrated the MIG into its systems, it’s been able to reduce the number of ambulance callouts and enable more supportive care thanks to increased data-sharing.

More examples of how interoperability has improved healthcare for our partners are available on our case studies page.