Yesterday I took a number of steps to complete my move to California including (somehow) passing a driver’s license test, getting a smog test for my car, getting a new registration and license plates for my car, and registering to vote in California.

For as much flack as the DMV can get, the process was rather efficient considering all that could have gone wrong. Sure, it helped that I made an appointment, thus moving up in the priority queue, but the fact remains that everything but the smog test took place in one building. And even then, once completed, the DMV is automatically notified of a passing grade for my car once the smog test is complete.

As conversations around this year’s Medicine X conference begin to intensify and we talk about how to improve the healthcare experience and empower patients and caregivers alike I can’t help but look at the process (and theory) of the DMV and see inspiration. Everything you need in one building. Information coordinated and shared between services. These are the types of challenges we are facing as health care reform is upon us.

Things like data interoperability and electronic health records aren’t just buzzwords and SEO optimizations. They are real opportunities to improve all of this nonsense.

Once your number is called, of course.