EHR interoperability: still a dream

At the recent Towards The Electronic Patient Record (TEPR) convention in Dallas, it was announced that Adobe Systems and Intel are working on a new version of the ubiquitous PDF standard for health care (Bio-IT World, May 22). The new PDF-H will reportedly be more secure than standard PDF, with digital signatures providing audit trails.

Some observers suggest that the PDF-H might supplement the Continuity of Care Record, which different EHRs may or may not be able to import and which hasn't yet provided a real interface between EHRs from different vendors. But even though most people have Adobe's program on their computer desktops, moving data around by PDF attachments to e-mail is still a pale substitute for real interoperability among EHRs. At the end of the day, it's just one more document that's not searchable within discrete data fields in your EHR.