In the health and human services fields, “interoperability” is generally associated with projects that involve diverse groups sharing information through technology. But the root concept behind interoperability is simply meaningful, responsible cooperation, an old idea with a new term to describe it.

In ACA’s terminology, “interoperability” refers to the ability of multiple entities to work together. This extended scope of interoperability encompasses the larger cooperative tasks of inter-organizational communication, aligned business processes, and re-designed program administration. To accomplish these tasks, a collaborative group structures its operations to allow each participant to make coordinated efforts to administer a variety of services, while still maintaining the integrity of each participant as an independently functioning entity.

Technology supports this coordination, but it is only one of the contributors to a holistic kind of interoperability. Without the cooperative efforts of involved parties to communicate, make compromises and adjustments, and reach common goals, technology is of limited value for interoperability initiatives.

Aiming at this broader vision of interoperability, we believe that a variety of organizations—local, state, and federal government agencies, community groups, private businesses, and others—can reach a deeper level of collaboration. This collaboration benefits the participants, helping them to function more efficiently.

But most importantly, multi-agency collaboration helps improve services, and in this way benefits the recipients of care. Increasing inter-organizational efficiency through interoperability projects is simply a means to the ultimate goal of human services organizations: to deliver high quality care to consumers. In order to achieve interoperable systems that lead to better consumer care, ACA offers assistance to develop an independently functioning, publically accountable governing structure. Interoperability initiatives have a bright future as a means to help organize available resources to satisfy community needs, granting all members access to services to improve their lives and the life of the community as a whole.