Widespread electronic medical record (EMR) adoption is being pursued in hope that social and economic benefits will be received through the reduction of information silos in medical record data. Unfortunately, without interoperability (the ability of two or more components, applications or systems to exchange and use information) EMR adoption will only further strengthen the information silos that exist in today’s paper-based medical files. This will result in even greater
proprietary control over health information and, with it, control over patients themselves, which will greatly limit the innovative promise of future healthcare systems.

Public efforts to support adoption of EMRs that are not interoperable are questionable, since standalone EMRs might not increase the healthcare consumer’s welfare. In contrast, EMR adoption enhanced by interoperable information will increase consumers’ welfare through increased choice, portability and control.