Are Most Interoperability Tools a Scam?

A note from the founder

After 30 years in healthcare IT, too many “interoperability solutions” are still toolkits wearing a solution’s costume. It’s time someone actually fixed the car.

By Joerg Schwarz · Founder, Intely · 7 min read

Let’s be real — are most interoperability tools a scam?

I’ve been in healthcare IT for over 30 years, and too many “interoperability solutions” are just toolkits wearing a solution’s costume.

Imagine driving into a repair shop with your check engine light on, and the manager says:

Sure, we can help. Here’s an open bay, here’s the lift, here are the tools. You figure out what’s broken and fix it yourself. That’ll be $XXX,XXX for the privilege.

That’s exactly how most interoperability “solutions” work.

You buy the toolkit.
You learn the tools.
You do the work.
And you keep paying.

At intely.io, no assembly required.

Need to connect your application to an EMR, ERP, RIS, PACS, RCM, or anything else?

We build it. You use it.

Fixed cost. No surprises.
Fixed timeline. No excuses.

What a Real Solution Actually Looks Like

A solution isn’t a platform you’re handed.

A solution is an outcome — delivered.

Here’s the Intely model:

1. We Build the Integration

HL7 v2, FHIR R4, REST, SMART-on-FHIR, flat file, proprietary APIs — whatever the system speaks.

You tell us the endpoints. We deliver a working connection.

2. Fixed Cost, Not Meter-Running

You get a number before we start.

No open-ended SOW.
No “professional services” padding.

If we miss, that’s on us.

3. Weeks, Not Quarters

New site live in 4–8 weeks for standard integrations.

No endless discovery phase.
No “circle back next quarter.”

Who We Built This For

The “toolkit tax” hits three groups hardest.

Digital Health, Clinical AI, and Device Vendors

Building great software. Losing months to every hospital integration.

You’ve built a great product.

Then comes reality:

• Every hospital is different
• Every EMR is configured differently
• Every integration is a new project

Your roadmap gets hijacked by:

• undocumented HL7 feeds
• gated FHIR endpoints
• IT queues
• internal engineering work

What we do:
We become your integration layer across every system.

What it means:
You sell. We integrate. You go live.

Health Systems Managing M&A or EMR Consolidation

You bought the hospital. Now what about the data?

Every acquisition creates:

• multiple EMRs
• legacy systems
• decades of data

You can’t:

• migrate everything
• throw anything away

What we do:

• migrate what matters
• archive the rest in a live, accessible format

What it means:

• one patient record
• compliant archive
• predictable cost

Rural Providers Who Can’t Afford “Fake” Interoperability

You don’t have an IT department. You have patients.

This is the group the industry ignores.

Typical reality:

• expensive platforms
• no staff to run them
• timelines longer than funding cycles

A platform license you can barely afford, a training program for staff you don’t have, and an implementation timeline longer than your grant cycle.

That’s not interoperability.

That’s fake interoperability.

What we do:
We act as your integration team.

We connect:

• EHRs
• HIEs
• reporting systems
• partners

What it means:
You focus on patients. We handle the data.

Why This Matters Now

Healthcare has been sold the same model for decades:

Buy the platform
Hire the engineers
Build it yourself

That worked for vendors.

It didn’t work for everyone else.

Interoperability is not a toolkit problem.

It’s a delivery problem.

Once you accept that, the model is simple:

• fixed cost
• fixed timeline
• delivered outcome

After 30 years, it’s time someone actually fixed the car.

CTA

Stuck in the bay with a wrench in your hand?

Let’s talk.

No assembly required.