Perspectives on Challenges and Opportunities for Interoperability: Findings From Key Informant Interviews With Stakeholders in Ohio
- PMID: 36826979
- PMCID: PMC10007006
- DOI: 10.2196/43848
Perspectives on Challenges and Opportunities for Interoperability: Findings From Key Informant Interviews With Stakeholders in Ohio
Abstract
Background: Interoperability-the exchange and integration of data across the health care system-remains a challenge despite ongoing policy efforts aimed at promoting interoperability.
Objective: This study aimed to identify current challenges and opportunities to advancing interoperability across stakeholders.
Methods: Primary data were collected through qualitative, semistructured interviews with stakeholders (n=24) in Ohio from July to October 2021. Interviewees were sampled using a stratified purposive sample of key informants from 4 representative groups as follows: acute care and children's hospital leaders, primary care providers, behavioral health providers, and regional health information exchange networks. Interviews focused on key informant perspectives on electronic health record implementation, the alignment of public policy with organizational strategy, interoperability implementation challenges, and opportunities for health information technology. The interviews were transcribed verbatim followed by rigorous qualitative analysis using directed content analysis.
Results: The findings illuminate themes related to challenges and opportunities for interoperability that align with technological (ie, implementation challenges, mismatches in interoperability capabilities across stakeholders, and opportunities to leverage new technology and integrate social determinants of health data), organizational (ie, facilitators of interoperability and strategic alignment of participation in value-based payment programs with interoperability), and environmental (ie, policy) domains.
Conclusions: Interoperability, although technically feasible for most providers, remains challenging for technological, organizational, and environmental reasons. Our findings suggest that the incorporation of end user considerations into health information technology development, implementation, policy, and standard deployment may support interoperability advancement.
Keywords: electronic health record; health information exchange; health information technology; interoperability; usability.
©Daniel M Walker, Willi L Tarver, Pallavi Jonnalagadda, Lorin Ranbom, Eric W Ford, Saurabh Rahurkar. Originally published in JMIR Medical Informatics (https://medinform.jmir.org), 24.02.2023.
Conflict of interest statement
Conflicts of Interest: None declared.
Similar articles
-
Perceptions of chief clinical information officers on the state of electronic health records systems interoperability in NHS England: a qualitative interview study.BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2023 Aug 12;23(1):158. doi: 10.1186/s12911-023-02255-8. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2023. PMID: 37573388 Free PMC article.
-
Identifying Opportunities to Strengthen the Public Health Informatics Infrastructure: Exploring Hospitals' Challenges with Data Exchange.Milbank Q. 2021 Jun;99(2):393-425. doi: 10.1111/1468-0009.12511. Epub 2021 Mar 30. Milbank Q. 2021. PMID: 33783863 Free PMC article.
-
Utilizing a Prototype Patient-Controlled Electronic Health Record in Germany: Qualitative Analysis of User-Reported Perceptions and Perspectives.JMIR Form Res. 2018 Aug 3;2(2):e10411. doi: 10.2196/10411. JMIR Form Res. 2018. PMID: 30684411 Free PMC article.
-
Interoperability opportunities and challenges in linking mhealth applications and eRecord systems: Botswana as an exemplar.BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2021 Aug 21;21(1):246. doi: 10.1186/s12911-021-01606-7. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2021. PMID: 34419020 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Semantic interoperability in health records standards: a systematic literature review.Health Technol (Berl). 2022;12(2):255-272. doi: 10.1007/s12553-022-00639-w. Epub 2022 Jan 26. Health Technol (Berl). 2022. PMID: 35103230 Free PMC article. Review.
Cited by
-
Impact of Electronic Health Services on Patient Satisfaction in Primary Care: A Systematic Review.Cureus. 2025 May 12;17(5):e83949. doi: 10.7759/cureus.83949. eCollection 2025 May. Cureus. 2025. PMID: 40502880 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Interoperability of telemonitoring data in digital health solutions: a scoping review.Front Digit Health. 2025 Apr 22;7:1502260. doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2025.1502260. eCollection 2025. Front Digit Health. 2025. PMID: 40330872 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Physician experiences of electronic health record interoperability and its practical impact on care delivery in the English NHS: a cross-sectional survey study.BMJ Open. 2025 Jun 10;15(6):e096669. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-096669. BMJ Open. 2025. PMID: 40499968 Free PMC article.
-
Leveraging data to support health equity in an integrated delivery and finance system.Learn Health Syst. 2024 Apr 15;8(Suppl 1):e10423. doi: 10.1002/lrh2.10423. eCollection 2024 Jun. Learn Health Syst. 2024. PMID: 38883869 Free PMC article.
-
User Requirements and Conceptual Design for an Electronic Data Platform for Interhospital Transfer Between Acute Care Hospitals: User-Centered Design Study.JMIR Hum Factors. 2025 May 30;12:e67884. doi: 10.2196/67884. JMIR Hum Factors. 2025. PMID: 40446323 Free PMC article.
References
-
- Akhlaq A, Sheikh A, Pagliari C. Defining health information exchange: scoping review of published definitions. J Innov Health Inform. 2017 Jan 25;23(4):838. doi: 10.14236/jhi.v23i4.838. https://informatics.bmj.com/lookup/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=28346130 - DOI - PubMed
-
- Fridsma D. Interoperability vs health information exchange: setting the record straight. Health IT Buzz. 2013. Jan 9, [2022-04-29]. https://tinyurl.com/jefef6mm .
-
- Bates DW, Samal L. Interoperability: what is it, how can we make it work for clinicians, and how should we measure it in the future? Health Serv Res. 2018 Oct;53(5):3270–7. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.12852. https://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/29527678 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources