Hospitals Align To Push For Device Interoperability

A coalition of hospitals and health systems formed this month will push for increased medical device interoperability as a means for improving patient care and lowering costs.

The nonprofit organization--known as the Center for Medical Interoperability--will be financially backed by the Gary and Mary West Foundation, according to an announcement. Founding Board Chairman Michael Johns called medical device interoperability key to "unlocking healthcare communications" in hospitals.

"By bringing hospital systems together, we can align all stakeholder interests in a neutral forum to include technology vendors, standards organizations, certification bodies, government agencies and healthcare associations under a common goal to improve healthcare," Johns said in a statement.

In a recent interview with InformationWeek Healthcare, Ed Cantwell, executive director of the new center, said the healthcare industry doesn't so much lack device interoperability standards as it does "reference architecture" embracing such standards.