Center’s goal is to spearhead creation of plug-and-play interoperability platform for seamless exchange of patient information
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (April 9, 2015) – The Center for Medical Interoperability today announced its Board of Directors, a major step advancing its goal to spearhead the creation of a platform to achieve integration of medical technologies in a plug-and-play manner.
“It is vital that all forms of healthcare technology, including medical devices and electronic health records, be able to seamlessly exchange information so that the quality and safety of care can be improved and costs can be reduced,” said Michael M.E. Johns, M.D., the founding chairman of the Board of Directors.
“The current lack of plug-and-play interoperability between medical devices, applications, enterprise systems and electronic health records hinders physicians from quickly and easily being able to access information that aids in making the best decisions for patients. It can materially compromise patient safety, and result in repeated manual entry of data and other inefficiencies that waste billions of dollars each year,” said Johns, who most recently served as interim executive vice president for medical affairs of the University of Michigan Health System and is a former chancellor of Emory University.
The term “plug-and-play interoperability” refers to the ability of two or more systems to appropriately, seamlessly, and interchangeably share and use information. What distinguishes the Center for Medical Interoperability is the comprehensive nature of its approach and that its membership consists of hospitals and health systems. This membership structure is designed to drive change by leveraging members’ extensive market presence and expertise to support standards-based, plug-and-play solutions at a scale that will impact the nation’s healthcare ecosystem.
A key element of the Center’s strategy will be a research and development lab where solutions are collaboratively developed, tested and certified. The Center will work with its members to understand business, clinical and technical requirements, and with the healthcare marketplace in a vendor-neutral manner to develop solutions and share performance results to help drive adoption.
“A central lab will offer our members critical information about the plug-and-play interoperability of vendor products, and then those members can use their market presence to drive the healthcare ecosystem toward adopting products that allow seamless exchange of information,” Johns said.
The Center was launched with $10 million in funding from the Gary and Mary West Foundation, in conjunction with personnel and technology from the Gary and Mary West Health Institute.
The Center’s Board of Directors consists of the leading executives of some of the largest health systems in the United States. The board members represent different segments of the hospital world – for-profit, not-for-profit, academic and public – but they are unified by their desire to change how patient information is shared. The Board of Directors includes:
- Michael M. E. Johns, MD
Founding Chairman, Center for Medical Interoperability - Jeffrey Balser, MD, PhD
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and Dean, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine - William Carpenter III
Chairman and CEO, LifePoint Hospitals - Dean Harrison
President and CEO, Northwestern Memorial HealthCare - Milton Johnson
Chairman and CEO, Hospital Corporation of America - Stephen Jones
President and CEO, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Robert Wood Johnson Health System - Thomas Priselac
President and CEO, Cedars-Sinai Health System - Jon Pryor, MD, MBA
CEO, Hennepin Healthcare System - Paul Rothman, MD
CEO, Johns Hopkins Medicine and Dean, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine - Michael Schatzlein, MD
Market Leader, Indiana and Tennessee Ministries, Ascension Health - Joseph Smith, MD, PhD
Chief Medical and Science Officer, West Health Institute - Wayne Smith
Chairman, President and CEO, Community Health Systems - Nicholas Valeriani
Chief Executive, West Health - Chris Van Gorder
President and CEO, Scripps Health
About the Center for Medical Interoperability
The Center for Medical Interoperability is accelerating the seamless exchange of information by solving the shared technical challenges facing health systems today. We are a member organization led by executives from some of the country’s premier health systems – for-profit, not-for-profit, academic and public – who are dedicated to empowering patients, healthcare professionals, the healthcare marketplace and our nation to optimize the use of health information. A 501(c)(3) established with funding from the Gary and Mary West Foundation to achieve plug-and-play interoperability, the Center is committed to leveraging the market presence and expertise of our members to compel change and improve the safety, quality and affordability of healthcare. Learn more at www.center4mi.org.