Emerging Technology and Data

It was an important step to bring health care data sets into an

electronic environment, it made for easier storage and faster record retrieval.
Today calls for faster response times and better portability of health care
data. Two ways of providing this update is middleware and the use of smart
technology to transmit information (called mHealth). Using these
technologies will allow the patient and the health care provider to
communicate more efficiently and effectively.
Mobile technologies have advanced significantly in the last 10 years,
and the potential for impact on personal health care is still being developed.
One opportunity currently being developed is called FHIRframe (pronounced
Fireframe), it has the potential of taking data and moving it through a
patients mobile device and into an EHR or other form of medical data
repository. It was developed by Health Level Seven (HL7) and has the
potential to assist providers make faster decisions based on the data
collected. It works by accepting data from a medical health device such as a
blood pressure monitor or insulin reader and through use of wireless (or
wired) networking transfers the information to any repository it is directed to.
The use of this technology will assist elderly or infirmed patients move
information to the necessary provider quicker than having the patient
present several times a week for an office visit for the same data.
It is important to keep in mind that it is not just patient interoperability,
but information transfer between systems. The EHR market is very
competitive and with over 173 Health IT vendors it is important that
databases be able to exchange information fast. Middleware offers a viable
solution to allow interoperability between many different vendors and
providers instead of just a one to one relationship like a standard HL7
interface would. It is important to note that middleware is not without its
detractors, specifically programmers who feel it requires learning an
additional platform before it can be made functional. It does have the
potential for high impact in the electronic health care world.
Interoperability is very important to quality patient care, and the ability
to move that information from one source to another is what makes it
beneficial. The health IT market is very competitive and the HIM professional

will be an integral part in designing, implementing and maintaining these

systems, and to assure that they will transfer the correct data to provide
quality health information.

References:
Voltz, D,(2015 May). Connecting the Disparate: Middlewares Role in Solving
Healthcares EHR Interoperability Problems. Journal of AHIMA,
Retrieved from: http://library.ahima.org/xpedio/idcplg?
IdcService=GET_HIGHLIGHT_INFO&QueryText=
%28emerging+technologies%29%3Cand%3E%28xPublishSite
%3Csubstring%3E%60BoK
%60%29&SortField=xPubDate&SortOrder=Desc&dDocName=bok1_05
0918&HighlightType=HtmlHighlight&dWebExtension=hcsp

Anwar M & Doss C,(2015 September). Lighting the Mobile Information FHIR: How
FHIRframe Could Dramatically Improve Mobile Health and Change HIM in the
Process. Journal of AHIMA, retrieved from:
http://library.ahima.org/xpedio/idcplg?
IdcService=GET_HIGHLIGHT_INFO&QueryText=%28HL7%29%3Cand%3E
%28xPublishSite%3Csubstring%3E%60BoK
%60%29&SortField=xPubDate&SortOrder=Desc&dDocName=bok1_050994&
HighlightType=HtmlHighlight&dWebExtension=hcsp