The capacity to broadcast, receive, and analyze increasingly detailed sets of data to and from medical devices holds much potential. The benefits range from better patient care to more efficient device management. Underlying those promises is the basic need of ensuring that the devices are able to communicate with one another. As the number and complexities of these devices multiply, the challenge of ensuring interoperability grows in kind.
To address this need, the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) has released a free document that contains guidance to interoperability topics. Called Achieving Interoperability, the 35-page resource contains reprints of articles that have appeared in AAMI’s publications. Topics covered include how devices are integrated into information technology networks and how infusion pumps can communicate with the server via a wireless network.