Past Meetings

Our February 27 was held at Nelson Mullins’ offices on Capitol Hill from noon to 2 pm. The feature topic was the hot subject and major challenge of interoperability of health information systems in healthcare. It featured in particular the prominent role of HL7 (Health Level Seven), an internationally recognized authority on standards for the interoperability of HIT, especially through their new framework “FHIR.” Interoperability is very much a subject of debate on the Hill, at ONC, and throughout the industry, and is a key part of the 21st Century Cures bill that is under active consideration in Congress. In short, the questions surround whether and to what extent interoperability of health information technology is possible, in what timeframe, in which parts of the industry, and specifically how should it be accomplished. Our primary speaker was Ticia Gerber, Global Director for Policy and Partnerships at HL7. Also speaking were senior HIT consultants Dr. Joe Bormel and Ms. Suniti Ponkshe, both of whom are alums of ONC and are dealing with interoperability issues in the industry on a day to day basis.