Healthcare interoperability is the ability of different healthcare information systems, applications, and devices to seamlessly exchange, understand, and use health data. This ensures that healthcare professionals have access to complete and accurate patient information, contributing to better care delivery. Also, it reduces duplicate tests and procedures while improving care coordination.  

Although interoperability in healthcare is crucial for improving patient outcomes and operational efficiency, its implementation faces some challenges. In this blog, we focus on these issues and potential solutions for achieving seamless interoperability across diverse healthcare systems. 

Major Healthcare Interoperability Challenges 

There are common barriers to achieving interoperability in healthcare. The followings are some of the challenges which disallow seamless data exchange across different healthcare systems. 

Data Silos

One of the critical challenges of interoperability in healthcare is data silos. Isolated data collections that hinder data exchange between different systems are called data silos. This prevents organizations from maintaining data quality and making evidence-based decisions. When patient information is stored in separate systems which do not communicate with each other, data silos occur. This limits clinical decision support and damages care coordination.  

For example, a hospital may not access a patient’s test results from an outside laboratory, so the same test is ordered again. Similarly, a clinician might not see recent medication changes made by another physician, leading to potential drug interaction risks. These examples reflect that data silos in healthcare increase costs, compromise patient care, and slow down care delivery. 

Lack of Standardization 

Healthcare systems usually collect the same information in different formats, making data sharing and interpreting difficult. For instance, one system might record blood pressure as free text, while the other one stores it as two structured numeric values. Likewise, diagnoses, lab tests, medications, and other clinical data may be coded differently across systems. 

To form a shared ecosystem, healthcare has standards like the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR), International Classification of Diseases (ICD), and Systemized Nomenclature of Medicine - Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT). However, some facilities use these standards’ older versions, and some customize them in incompatible ways. As a matter of fact, a lot of organizations do not use them consistently or appropriately. Thus, data exchange becomes expensive and error-prone. 

Legacy Infrastructure 

Many healthcare organizations rely on legacy systems designed years ago. These systems often use outdated technology and limited connectivity. Although they can perform core functions, they cannot integrate with modern applications and support data sharing efficiently. 

Healthcare facilities, especially the ones operating 24/7, face significant issues in upgrading their technology infrastructure because system downtime can affect patient care. Moreover, replacing legacy systems can be expensive. As a result, organizations keep old systems and implement temporary solutions rather than modernizing them fully. This leads to increased complexity, as legacy and modern systems coexist without effective interoperability. 

Security and Privacy Concerns 

Regulatory compliance is among common healthcare interoperability challenges. Regulatory requirements like HIPAA impose strict rules about health information storage and sharing while protecting patient privacy and security. Many organizations interpret these regulations conservatively and choose not to share data.  

In addition to regulatory compliance, the sensitive nature of healthcare data raises significant security and privacy concerns. Some healthcare providers think that sharing data increases the risk of breaches, unauthorized access, and misuse. 

Organizational and Cultural Barriers 

Although healthcare interoperability is as much an organizational and cultural challenge as it is a technical one. Different organizations and teams have different priorities. For example, IT team focuses on system stability, while healthcare professionals prioritize workflow efficiency. Achieving interoperability requires alignment across these groups, which can be difficult to coordinate. 

Cultural resistance also plays a significant role; healthcare professionals and providers may be skeptical of new systems. They may have concerns that these systems will disrupt their workflows and bring documentation burdens. Furthermore, they might not trust external data or may prefer familiar processes. As a result, organizations tend to continue using traditional technologies, even when they are inefficient. 

Potential Strategies to Overcome Interoperability Challenges 

Addressing healthcare interoperability challenges is essential to enable seamless and efficient healthcare delivery. The following strategies outline key approaches to improving healthcare data exchange. 

Adopting Universal Standards 

Different systems can understand each other by using common rules for how healthcare data is structured, labeled, and exchanged. Standards such as FHIR, ICD-11, and SNOMED CT generate shared language across healthcare organizations.  

When standards are used consistently, data can move between different systems without manual re-entry or complex custom interfaces. For instance, a lab result sent using standardized codes can be automatically integrated into a hospital’s Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. This reduces errors, saves time, and improves clinical decision-making.

Adoption alone is not enough; standards must be implemented correctly and consistently. When widely and appropriately adopted, universal healthcare standards transform fragmented systems into an ecosystem where data flows accurately and meaningfully. 

Investing in Modern Healthcare IT Infrastructure 

Modern infrastructure provides the technical foundation needed for interoperability. Unlike legacy systems, modern platforms are designed to integrate with other systems more easily and adapt to evolving standards and requirements.

This investment also includes upgrading networks, improving system reliability, and ensuring systems can handle increased data exchange without performance issues. Organizations can embrace a phased approach for this strategy; they can gradually integrate modern components while withdrawing outdated technologies.

Costs for modern health IT infrastructure can be high, but modernity reduces long-term operational expenses. Moreover, modern systems support data security and privacy and enable new care models like telehealth and remote monitoring. 

Strengthening Data Governance and Security 

Data governance refers to the management of data availability, integrity, quality, and security. Strong data governance and security frameworks are essential for achieving interoperability in healthcare. Data governance defines who owns data, who can access it, how it can be used, and how data quality is maintained. Healthcare organizations can share data seamlessly while remaining compliant with regulations through clear policies. 

Encryption, identity and access management, audit logs, and continuous monitoring for possible threats are among important security measures. They are crucial for protecting sensitive patient information from unauthorized access and data breaches. Healthcare organizations which take these measures are more willing to exchange data, as they have greater confidence that their data is secure. 

Encouraging Cross-Organizational Collaboration 

Healthcare interoperability cannot be achieved by individual organizations acting alone; it requires close collaboration across the healthcare ecosystem. Cross-organizational collaboration includes shared goals, mutual trust, and coordinated efforts among healthcare providers, payers, vendors, and public health agencies.

Collaboration starts with formal agreements defining data-sharing expectations, responsibilities, and legal protections. It also requires active engagement of healthcare professionals and other personnel within participating organizations. This strategy shows that interoperability requires a multi-stakeholder agreement on how, when, and for what purposes health data can be accessed and shared.

Final Words 

The benefits of interoperability in healthcare cannot be underestimated. By enabling timely access to complete and accurate patient data, interoperability empowers healthcare professionals to deliver safer, more coordinated, and more efficient care. It also contributes to reducing costs and inefficiencies by preventing duplicate tests and minimizing manual data entry. On the other hand, there are significant interoperability barriers like lack of standardization, legacy systems, data silos, security concerns, and organizational challenges. Stakeholders must consider strategies such as adopting universal standards and investing in modern, interoperable infrastructure to overcome these barriers. 

As Tiga Healthcare Technologies, we provide our Health Information Exchange (HIE) Suite that includes FHIR Stack, Enterprise Master Patient Index (EMPI), Terminology Server, and Clinical Viewer 360. These healthcare interoperability solutions enable different systems to share data in a compatible manner, integrate in real time, and use the data effectively. Through our HIE Suite, we address major interoperability barriers, facilitating seamless data exchange and efficient care coordination. 

Let’s shape the future together with innovative healthcare interoperability solutions!