Six tech vendors align to make health records more interoperable

A half dozen electronic health record vendors have formed a non-profit organization called the Commonwell Health Alliance. The organization's goal is to create a national infrastructure with common platforms and policies that allow medical records systems to work together — a task that has previously proven elusive.

 “Today's announcement represents an inflection point in health care, with key industry leaders coming together to support the delivery of a national health information exchange,” said John Hammergren, chairman and CEO of McKesson Corporation.

Additional partners include Cerner Corporation, Allscripts, athenahealth, Greenway and RelayHealth (a McKesson subsidiary).