Hospitals Prioritize Intra-facility over Inter-facility Communication. Here's the Impact That Has on Patient Outcomes

"On average, the researchers found hospitals could share 4.6 types of information within the same organization and 2.7 types of information between different organizations." 

This quote is from a recent study in Becker's Hospital Review, and we see evidence of it every day.  Organizations prioritize addressing intra-organization communication and data exchange over inter-organization communication and data exchange.

There are many reasons for this, and all are not self serving.  

But care providers in different organizations need a regional communication network for real time team communication and collaboration. Of the 400,000 deaths due to miscommunication each year, 80% are due to medical errors during transitions of care. And, those risks increase for transfers between hospitals.

For example, a recent study found that stroke patients who needed to be transferred waited an average of 46 to 133 minutes before beginning treatment at the transfer facility. When 2 million neurons die each minute a patient is having a stroke, we need a better way to communicate and exchange data between facilities to speed up treatment times. 

The good news is this is possible now.  We need to make it a priority.  It's about people.