We all need to recharge our internal batteries now and then. To recharge, some climb Mt. Everest in their personal time, some take vacations. For me, it’s making music — singing, writing, playing. Last year, just for fun, I released a Daughtry parody song espousing the virtues of telehealth called “Staying Home.”

I just returned from HIMSS17, and if you did too, you know that with the enormity of a show like this, it is literally impossible to see and talk to everyone that you intend or want to. 

One of my favorite things about ending a year is taking a look back at the highlights from the year, reflecting on accomplishments, and then quickly turning to look at the possibilities ahead for the new year.

How do you get your industry information? Do you keep up with what's going on in the world of HIE? Or, do you only want to know about what's going on in your state? Either way, if you subscribe to industry publications, or set up Google alerts for "HIE" like I do, you probably couldn't help but notice all of the recent articles.

It can take super-human strength to meet all of your IT goals!

If you're like a lot of healthcare IT executives that I have spoken to lately, it seems that you need super-human strength to be able to tackle all of your healthcare IT priorities. It's nearly impossible for IT departments to get everything done that is asked for or required (either by the government, or other hospital executives).

This is due in part, to the overwhelming demands on healthcare IT departments, whether it be an increase in the complexity of regulatory requirements to move to value-based care in a short amount of time, achieving the holy grail of interoperability, the need for analytics, or the threat of cyber-security and managing patient privacy. The list can go on and on!

In the world of Health Information Exchanges (HIEs), as with many other challenges in Healthcare IT, the regulations are constantly changing, and it can be hard for providers to keep up.

Let's take a look at state HIEs in particular. Many states are enacting legislation that will require connection to the state HIE. Do you know if your state is one of them?

Here's one example. The state of New York recently adopted the SHIN-NY regulation which, according to the April issue of the SHIN-NY Spotlight, "This regulation provides guidance on how SHIN-NY is operated. Additionally, the policy directs all Article 28 hospitals to connect to the Statewide Health Information Network for New York (SHIN-NY) on or before March 2017 and other regulated facilities in New York to connect by March 2018."

Connecting to an HIE and achieving true Interoperability are challenges CIOs face on a daily basis. This is evident based on the number of industry publications that cover this topic almost every day. It’s because the challenge of sharing patient data across disparate systems, and achieving interoperability, are very difficult things to accomplish. And every hospital’s situation is different, which contributes to the complexity.

Is interoperability a challenge at your hospital? Do the frank opinions of hospital CIOs matter to you?

If so, you might be interested in the thoughts and perspectives shared in a focus group at HIMSS16. The topic: Defining Interoperability Challenges, Priorities, and Solutions for 2016. About 18 CIOs attended, representing hospitals, public health agencies, and similar organizations.

Patient identity challenges are not going away

We had total control. We undid the registration, documentation, lab results, charges, and any other bits and pieces, only to re-enter them on the new patient and account. Boy did we complain!