The benefits of an interoperable electronic health record are well understood - improving care quality, patient safety, and efficiency, while reducing costs. The question is no longer, "Why do we need an interoperable EHR" but "How do we achieve an interoperable EHR?"

Using Symbiont's GRHID Platform as the basis for your information infrastructure offers physicians a number of end-user benefits over traditional systems integration and connectivity solutions, including:

It works with your existing EHR system…

Symbiont uses industry standard web services, messaging, and data formats so you can request information right through your existing system. You don't have to retrieve information through a different application and then enter it into your EHR system. There is no interruption to your current workflow; you simply have access to more information than you did before. Symbiont works with most major EHR vendors on an industry interoperability task force to ensure compatibility between systems.

…but you don't need an EHR system to use it.

If you're not ready for the expense of a full-blown EHR system, you can still take advantage of the GRHID Platform. All you need is a network/Internet connection and a web browser. This means that all providers can still collaborate electronically even though some of them may still have paper based records. Faxes and other paper-based exchange methods can be eliminated so providers with EHR systems won't be forced to maintain a paper record; those providers can now go to fully electronic solutions without waiting for the other providers in the network.

XML search results mean easily customized views.

Different physicians can view the exact same data in different formats, depending on their specialty and needs. They can even distill the information down so they see only the information that is relevant to them. For example:

View a sample CCR (unformatted)
View a sample CCR using an XSL Stylesheet

Retrieve population-level information.

Not only can you retrieve information on a single patient, but you can also analyze your patient population as a whole. For example, you can run a report to see a list of all patients that have not had a preventive treatment (say, a mammogram) in a given time period. You can also get a list of patients with a particular diagnosis, coupled with other factors, to determine who needs to be in a disease management program.