In the U.S., we still have a system that makes care coordination difficult. Almost everyone has a story about an older friend or relative who sees multiple providers, but, for example, there is no communication between that patient's cardiologist and rheumatologist. The electronic health record has helped [when] the providers are in the same healthcare system. Across healthcare systems, we are not there yet.
I come from the home healthcare world. In that setting, we routinely may be unable to access electronic healthcare information for all the systems through which a patient receives care. As a result, home healthcare nurses cannot easily and seamlessly share their observations with other providers. We're making progress on this front, and I am optimistic that this barrier will be greatly reduced in the next five years.
2. What's the most important healthcare issue that nobody is talking about?