It’s easy for a patient or doctor to talk about interoperability in healthcare. It’s much harder to actually do the hard work of making interoperability a reality. If you’ve ever served on a standards making committee or talked with a consensus making body, there’s more nuance and detail when it comes to health data interoperability than most people realize or want to admit.
As a way to recognize those doing the hard work of healthcare interoperability, DirectTrust has started a new Interoperability Hero Initiative. Take a look at the Interop Heroes they announced in their inaugural batch to see the broad range of interoperability efforts and people they’re recognizing. Plus, this is just the start. DirectTrust plans to recognize a new set of Interop Heroes every quarter.
I love this initiative since we can all complain about where interoperability isn’t happening, but there’s something powerful about celebrating those people and efforts that are making healthcare interoperability a reality.
For those interested in learning more about this effort and maybe nominate or be nominated as an interop hero, we sat down with Kathryn Ayers Wickenhauser, Director of Communications at DirectTrust to learn more.
In our discussion, Wickenhauser shares why they’re highlighting interop heroes and what they hope to achieve from it. She also shares who can be nominated as an Interop Hero, the criteria, and how someone can nominate. Worth noting is that they want to recognize all types of interoperability in healthcare and not just direct messaging. Plus, you don’t have to be a DirectTrust member to be nominated or nominate.
Check out the interview below to learn more or visit the Interop Hero page for more details on interoperability categories and criteria.
Learn more about DirectTrust: https://directtrust.org/
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