So far in this discussion about “What the market says you need in your patient portal” we have been driving toward changes that are core to new engagement models. However, we have not addressed a core enabler: “It’s all about the data!”
Consumers demand access to information that meets their needs and they are not complacent 
with becoming hunters and gatherers for the information is truly about them. Consumers in today’s market demand accurate and up-to-date information about their health profile, just like they do with respect to their financial profile. However, the systems and processes to make that information available are not all there.
There are various sources of the information that are relevant to the patients/consumers (and also to the providers providing care to their patients). Much of this data has been distributed through the provider community. Some of the data is in the provider’s own systems. Some of the data is in the hospitals EHR systems. Some of the data is in outpatient facility systems. Other data is isolated and hard to locate.
With the push to HIEs some of the data is now becoming more available to the providers and to the patients they serve. However integrating the data into a holistic view is still a challenge. The information still needs to be gathered / extracted from the source systems, transformed into a structure that the HIE can understand and then there are the issues of translating the codes and values to normalized/consistent terms following a defined set of vocabularies. Additionally, ensuring a unified view of the individual can be a challenge. Enterprises IT groups are leveraging Enterprise Master Person Index (EMPI) solutions to construct the golden record of the individual but this also has its challenges.
Once all of the data is assembled (assuming that it is) the next challenge is to get the information to the right person at the right time. The HIE now needs to be integrated to the rest of the enterprise. Exposing the information in terms of the services or APIs can now begin. Finally the Portal (and this is just one of the consumers) can begin to consume these services and make the information available to the consumers. What’s also of importance is that the consumers can access this data from multiple perspectives. The provider can see full episodes of care across multiple care locations. The patient can see their health profile all in one location.
Having a single view of one’s health profile (or even the illusion of) is a powerful tool. Not only does it provide insights for better care, it breaks down the walls of information silos that have challenged providers and patient’s alike. Again, it is all about the data, and integration and interoperability are the key.
