So anyone who has been around computers for a while probably has a strong preference for either Mac or PC. Yet, typical 20-year-olds of today probably aren't as passionate about their platform of choice as those of a decade or so ago and there's good reason for that. In the past, Mac users often had problems deciphering information generated by PCs and vice versa. As time went on, many of the programs crossed battle lines and allowed easier transfer of information regardless of the system.

So, the big question is, what has health care learned from the Mac and PC history? To be fair, while the health care marketplace is huge, the health IT section is only one component. In comparison, the consumer software market is a monster all on its own and doesn't need to clear the regulatory hurdles found in the health care sector.

Still, it seems that Macs and PCs have done a lot of the heavy lifting providing a foundation for health IT to build upon. I suspect that some of the more forward-thinking health IT companies have at least looked into recruiting some of the top talent that was around during the consumer software sector's transformation. The knowledge they picked up firsthand would be valuable to companies trying to figure out how to get their systems communicating better with other systems.

Detractors may say that OEMs don't want their systems to communicate with others. In this way, customers are forced to make a choice and stick with it. But any company digging in with that philosophy isn't likely to hold onto their exclusivity for long. If anything, as more software and hardware interacts seamlessly with competing offerings, those at the forefront of that push will get valuable feedback from users, helping them to update and tweak their products making them more desirable.

Cloud-based solutions have delivered some of this promised future already, but it'll be interesting to see how well it all takes hold. One final determining factor will be how hospitals and more importantly, ACOs, adjust to or resist the change. Unlike consumer-based software, hospitals and ACOs may have some financial incentive to keep the communications between their systems and those outside of their network to a minimum. By doing so, it makes it more difficult for patients to go outside of the network. It also makes it more imperative for smaller physician groups to consider consolidation with an ACO in the area. It will be interesting to keep an eye on developments in the field and see if years down the line, we're able to look back and see that hospital and ACO systems managed to take the same path forged by consumer-based software years earlier.