Health Affairs

Posting date: January 19, 2005

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Health Affairs, 10.1377/hlthaff.w5.22
Copyright © 2005 by Project HOPE

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Benefits Of Interoperability: A Closer Look At The Estimates

Laurence C. Baker ^1*

¹ Loren Baker is an associate professor and chief of health services research in the Department of Health Research and Policy at the Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California. He is also an assistant professor in the Department of Economics, Stanford University; a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); and a fellow at the Stanford Center for Health Policy.

^*Corresponding author.

Abstract

The paper by Jan Walker and colleagues provides an estimate of savings to be gained by increased health care information exchange and interoperability (HIEI). However, the assumptions on which their analysis was based seem very optimistic and could produce estimates that are not achievable. This commentary outlines some questions about their assumptions and suggests that less-aggressive assumptions could lead to more realistic expectations about the financial implications of achieving interoperability.

Key Words: Business Of Health, Consumer Issues, Health Reform, Internet And Health, Quality Of Care, Research And Technology

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