By Buff Colchagoff, CEO, RosettaHealth
LinkedIn: Buff Colchagoff
LinkedIn: RosettaHealth
Every December I return to watching Home Alone. It is a holiday ritual and a reminder that chaos often begins with one small moment of disconnect.
Kevin McCallister wakes up to discover that everyone else has left for the airport without him. Suddenly he is alone in a house that is not designed to be managed by an eight-year-old, yet he does everything he can to keep it functioning.
It makes for a delightful Christmas comedy, but it also resembles what many health organizations experience when they are left outside of broader interoperability networks.
When You Are Left Out of the Network, Everything Becomes a DIY Trap
Kevin is resourceful and brave, but every trap he builds is a last resort. He uses paint cans as defensive tools, strings together improvised alarms, and turns household items into a makeshift security system. Health organizations that operate without nationwide data exchange support often find themselves doing something very similar.
They create custom interfaces, attempt to patch together information from disconnected systems, and rely on clever workarounds that should not be necessary. The effort involved is admirable, but it is also an indication that something more universal and reliable is missing. Kevin’s efforts work well enough within a movie, but no real-world system should depend on such improvisation.
Risks Love an Isolated House
The Wet Bandits choose the McCallister home because it looks vulnerable. The lights are on, no one is inside, and there is no visible connection to a supportive neighborhood. A health information organization that stands apart from trusted networks also becomes an at risk target.
Without the query and alerts of a nationwide data sharing network a disconnected organization takes on risks. In the film, Kevin confronts intruders with nothing more than creativity and a blowtorch.
In health care, information isolation creates risks for delayed diagnoses, poorly coordinated transitions of care, patient frustration, redundant procedures, etc. At this point, all readers should get that information sharing results in better outcomes and lower risks.
TEFCA as the Airport Security That Prevents the McCallister Mix Up
The early airport scene in Home Alone is as memorable as it is chaotic. Family members sprint through the terminal with no system for confirming who is present. The result is predictable. Someone gets left behind. TEFCA offers a very different model. It provides shared rules, consistent processes, and a structured framework that exists to prevent the health care equivalent of the McCallister confusion.
Under TEFCA, identity is verified, trust is established, and data movement follows a clear and repeatable pattern. In short, there is a headcount before takeoff. Applied to Home Alone, TEFCA would have ensured that Kevin was on the plane before the family reached the runway.
A Holiday Wish for a Connected Future
Imagine how the story would change if the McCallister home were part of a coordinated and well-informed community. Kevin would not be fighting alone, and help would arrive long before the Wet Bandits tried the back door. The same hope applies to common nationwide health information exchanges.
The goal is a future where no organization is left without the information it needs for patient and operational safety, where trust frameworks allow information to move securely and predictably, and where all patient records are available where and when needed.
As you watch Home Alone this holiday season, consider the deeper lesson beneath the laughter. Isolation creates vulnerability. Connection creates resilience. Trust creates the conditions for meaningful interactions.
The best Christmas is one where no one is forgotten, including the patients and providers who rely on complete and timely information.
Here’s to a healthy and well-connected holiday season!