Several of Nashville’s best-known health care leaders will help lead an effort to improve interoperability in medical technology systems.
Milton Johnson, chairman and CEO of HCA Holdings Inc.; Wayne Smith, president and CEO of Community Health Systems; William Carpenter III, chairman and CEO of LifePoint Hospitals; Dr. Jeffrey Balser, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine; and Dr. Michael Schatzlein, CEO of Saint Thomas Health and a market leader for St. Louis-based Ascension Health, have been named to the board of directors of the Center for Medical Interoperability. They’re part of a 14-member board which includes representatives from other leading medical systems.
Backed by $10 million in funding from the Gary and Mary West Foundation, the center will use a research and development lab and the experience of its members to develop solutions to the problem of non-interoperability, which prevents the various new electronic medical records and other technologies from working together, according to a news release.
“It is vital that all forms of health care 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 Dr. Michael M.E. Johns, founding board chairman of the Center for Interoperability.