• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

  • Opinion
  • Health IT
    • Behavioral Health
    • Care Coordination
    • EMR/EHR
    • Interoperability
    • Patient Engagement
    • Population Health Management
    • Revenue Cycle Management
    • Social Determinants of Health
  • Digital Health
    • AI
    • Blockchain
    • Precision Medicine
    • Telehealth
    • Wearables
  • Startups
  • M&A
  • Value-based Care
    • Accountable Care (ACOs)
    • Medicare Advantage
  • Life Sciences
  • Research

UCSF, Cisco to Develop Interoperability Platform for Sharing Health Data

by Jasmine Pennic 10/22/2015 Leave a Comment

  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print

UCSF, Cisco to Develop Interoperability Platform for Sharing Health DataThe University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Cisco are teaming up for a new initiative to  jointly develop an interoperability-focused platform that will enable health systems, providers and app vendors to share and integrate health data from multiple sources. That platform will make pertinent patient information accessible when and where it’s needed for care through a highly secure process.

Health interoperability – defined as the ability of different devices, IT systems and software to communicate, exchange and use shared data – will  play an increasingly important role in providing timely, accurate care based on access to real-time patient health data and records.

Interoperability Platform Details

As part of the initiative, Cisco and UCSF will establish a collaborative center at UCSF’s Mission Bay campus. At the center, staff from both entities, along with global health technology leaders, will be able to collectively test and scale the interoperability platform across different devices, IT systems and software. 

The platform initially will be piloted for patients at UCSF Medical Center and ultimately extend to other affiliated entities within UCSF Health, including UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals and joint ventures with John Muir Health and Hospice by the Bay, among others. It is expected to expand rapidly throughout the UC system and with other health care delivery partners nationwide.

Cisco’s solutions for digital business connect data, analytics, processes and experiences across multiple industries. Working with front line innovators at UCSF, Cisco will extend its digital business platform with health care-specific capabilities to enable the rapid creation and deployment of applications focused at specific interoperability challenges within health care. Cisco analytics will create new insight, processes and outcomes with the distinct ability to compute from the data center to the edge, turning raw data into strategic business information. 

“Fragmentation of information is one of the most challenging impediments in health care today,” said Michael Blum, MD in an official statement, UCSF associate vice chancellor for Informatics and director of the UCSF Center for Digital Health Innovation, which houses this initiative for UCSF. “In human terms, the consequences are enormous: the lack of complete information on our patients leads to poor, costly care, delays in diagnosis or treatment, and dissatisfied patients – all due to health information systems that cannot communicate with one another. In this age of apps, social media, and mobile communications, this status quo is completely unacceptable to both patients and providers. We plan to change all of that with this partnership.”

A platform of this type is critical to enabling health systems to meet the data-exchange and collaboration requirements of the Affordable Care Act, according to Aenor Sawyer, MD, a UCSF orthopedist and digital health leader who was instrumental in establishing the partnership. This platform also will enable providers to incorporate new and valuable sources of information from outside the clinical system, such as personal health applications, wearable sensors, consumer devices and home monitors, which will be integrated with clinical data to optimize health decisions.

“All of us experience varying states of wellness and illness in our lives and contact many points of care, where important data is generated. We move freely between those points of care, but our data does not,” said Sawyer, who is also a cancer patient. “With this interoperability platform in place, the volumes of health data generated from clinical and non-clinical sources can be integrated and analyzed, resulting in accessible and actionable information and, ultimately, better care.” 

  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Print

Tagged With: Health IT Interoperability

Tap Native

Get in-depth healthcare technology analysis and commentary delivered straight to your email weekly

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to HIT Consultant

Latest insightful articles delivered straight to your inbox weekly.

Submit a Tip or Pitch

Featured Insights

 Selecting the Right EMR: A Practical Guide to Streamlining Your Practice and Enhancing Patient Care

Selecting the Right EMR: A Practical Guide to Streamlining Your Practice and Enhancing Patient Care

Featured Interview

Virta Health CEO: GLP-1s Didn’t Kill Weight Watchers, Its Broken Model Did

Most-Read

Beyond the Hype: Building AI Systems in Healthcare Where Hallucinations Are Not an Option

Beyond the Hype: Building AI Systems in Healthcare Where Hallucinations Are Not an Option

Health IT Sector Navigates Policy Turbulence with Resilient M&A

Health IT’s New Chapter: IPOs Return, Resilient M&A, Valuations Rise in 1H 2025

PwC Report: US Medical Cost Trend to Remain Elevated at 8.5% in 2026

PwC Report: US Medical Cost Trend to Remain Elevated at 8.5% in 2026

Philips Launches ECG AI Marketplace, Partnering with Anumana to Enhance Cardiac Care with AI-Powered Diagnostics

Philips Launches ECG AI Marketplace, Partnering with Anumana to Enhance Cardiac Care with AI-Powered Diagnostics

WeightWatchers Emerges from Bankruptcy, Launches New Menopause Program

WeightWatchers Emerges from Bankruptcy, Launches New Menopause Program

CMS Finalizes New Interoperability and Prior Authorization Rule

CMS Proposes 2026 Physician Fee Schedule Rule: Boosting Primary Care, Cutting Waste, and Modernizing Payments

Beyond SaaS: How Agent as a Service is Transforming Healthcare Automation

Beyond SaaS: How Agent as a Service is Transforming Healthcare Automation

New Strategies Needed: No Surprises Act and the Challenges for Payors with Provider Data Inaccuracies

Samsung Acquires Xealth to Accelerate Connected Care Vision

Samsung Acquires Xealth to Accelerate Connected Care Vision

AI Dominates Digital Health Investment in First Half of 2025

Rock Health Report: AI Dominates Digital Health Investment in First Half of 2025

Secondary Sidebar

Footer

Company

  • About Us
  • Advertise with Us
  • Reprints and Permissions
  • Submit An Op-Ed
  • Contact
  • Subscribe

Editorial Coverage

  • Opinion
  • Health IT
    • Care Coordination
    • EMR/EHR
    • Interoperability
    • Population Health Management
    • Revenue Cycle Management
  • Digital Health
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Blockchain Tech
    • Precision Medicine
    • Telehealth
    • Wearables
  • Startups
  • Value-Based Care
    • Accountable Care
    • Medicare Advantage

Connect

Subscribe to HIT Consultant Media

Latest insightful articles delivered straight to your inbox weekly

Copyright © 2025. HIT Consultant Media. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy |