Feb. 17 marks the 10th anniversary of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act being signed into law. HITECH ushered in the term meaningful use (which has given way to “promoting interoperability”) and authorized the CMS to spend billions to reward providers for adopting certified EHR systems. Despite much progress, the industry has yet to adopt a universal way to move patient records from one care setting to another. As an army of health IT professionals invades Orlando, Fla., this week for HIMSS, interoperability and data exchange will once again be a focal point of product launches, education sessions and government town halls.
