3 Actions to Advance OR Interoperability

Interoperability in health care has largely been seen as the task of technology experts creating solutions that clinicians have to figure out how to make work (or work around), but there is a path to a better solution.

“When nurses and surgeons are put in the driver’s seat to advise how technology can be applied to help them, they share new perspectives and find amazing solutions,” says Kelly Aldrich, DNP, MS, RN-BC, RYT, chief clinical information officer for the Center of Medical Interoperability.

Aldrich helps clinical teams connect the dots between clinical and technological expertise to develop smart care environments. She says taking the time to ask, listen and share clinician perspectives on technology barriers in their practice setting is invaluable.

Making a Road Map to an Interoperable OR

The perioperative environment is in particular need of an interoperability overhaul, Aldrich says.

“A typical OR is characterized by a maze of different electronic systems and technologies that silo data and task OR nurses with managing these multiple information systems…. why do we tolerate this for our frontline clinicians?”

Instead, she suggests imagining an OR where systems talk to each other and the perioperative nurse easily manages these systems from one device with more time to care for a patient. While Aldrich believes this ideal interoperability state in the OR is possible, she knows that getting there requires perioperative leaders to be engaged and vocal to connect clinician needs to technology function.

Here’s how Aldrich says perioperative leaders can apply her actions for interoperability improvement in perioperative care:

1. Ask clinicians what they need—this helps a team to shape their ideal state for leveraging OR technology that is interoperable and supports care seamlessly. Aldrich says there is no one-size fits-all-solution to creating this ideal state, which is why open conversation is so important.


2. Listen to clinicians’ frustrations—this creates a menu of barriers to be addressed so a road map toward an ideal state of OR interoperability can be shaped.


3. Compare ideal and current states—looking at these differences is the best way to identify gaps that shape your action plan.


4. Facilitate an informatics council—with the right mix of clinicians and informatics and technology experts working together, valuable solutions can be shaped to get teams closer and closer to their ideal state for functional interoperability.

Starting the Conversation

For leaders having difficulty understanding clinician perspectives on technology, Aldrich suggests a simple approach that proved successful in her previous role as Chief Informatics Officer for a nationwide hospital system when she was finding it difficult to pinpoint frontline challenges with interoperability.

She asked chief nursing officers to give clinicians in their respective hospitals a 3x5 index card for two shifts to make a note every time they experienced a frustration with technology in their workflow. She received 600 cards and a wealth of suggested technology barriers to tackle for improving clinical workflow interoperability.

For example, one nurse shared frustration with having to step away from a patient being oxygenated during emergency transport so she could use a badge to signal an elevator door to open. “Such a simple idea can become the spark to open the eyes of non-clinicians with the technical know-how to tackle these barriers, but no one will know if we don’t ask.”

FREE RESOURCES FOR MEMBERS

Guideline Essentials: Further increase you and your team’s interoperability with access to implementation tools for information management.

• Gap Analysis Tools: Tools to assess areas in which your facility may not be compliant with the guidelines.
• Policy & Procedure Templates: Ready-to-use customizable templates for developing your facility’s policies and procedures.
• Competency Verification Tools: Ready-to-use customizable templates for verifying competency to meet facility requirements.
• Implementation Road Map: Simple infographic outlining steps for implementing AORN Guidelines.