Why Is Interoperability Important To Healthcare?
Healthcare is one of the most significant sectors where the need for data interoperability continues to grow at an unprecedented pace. Many vendors and healthcare providers are looking for ways to share and manage patient data and information.
That is vital for better healthcare implementation and the effective incorporation of diagnostic services.
FHIR has become the leading protocol for the healthcare system internationally as the industry rapidly digitalizes. Patient data sharing transcends boundaries and technical difficulties with the help of FHIR. However, What does this new healthcare venture bring to the table that sets it apart from the rest?
As FHIR becomes popular amongst leading healthcare vendors globally, we look at some of its functions and its role in interoperability.
What is FHIR?
FHIR is HL7 International’s new draft data standard, considering how complex data sharing in the healthcare system can be.
The goal of FHIR is to incorporate an internet-based approach to make data more accessible and implementable for healthcare providers everywhere. FHIR provides medical professionals with a universal language that can be used to receive and interpret data from across the world. That allows for centralized data storage for patient information and helps medical providers efficiently access the stored data.
How does FHIR Work?
FHIR’s operation is based on internet standards such as REST which sees shared data in resources. It creates a set of resources that can be used on their own or with other inputs to meet the needs of many common use-cases.
That means that the resources will also have individual identifiers, just like how URLs are specific to certain data.
It works just like how the internet does. A user can access a URL from anywhere in the world regardless of their EHR operating system allowing developers to create apps that will make it easy for anyone to access data.
FHIR and Interoperability
FHIR is generally regarded to play a more significant role in data interoperability than any other data-sharing standard in the healthcare system. There are several reasons for this, but the most important one would be how it paves the way for better data sharing methods and development in the healthcare system.
Here are a few ways in which FHIR has been improving data interoperability:
Compiling Updated Personal Health Records One of the most pressing issues in personal health records and healthcare data collection is that records are not updated in many electronic medical record systems. It does not keep someone accessing this information up to date with changes anyone outside of the system may have made. FHIR makes it easy for healthcare professionals everywhere to edit and update an existing health record, making coordination easier. It is resulting in better patient care.
Transcending Technicalities in Document Exchange Document exchange in itself has many technicalities that need to be overcome to have an easy flow of data that can be converted into different forms. The current standard for document exchange sees data shared in different formats, which need different systems or apps to open and access that data. That often leads to having data opened in more than one format. FHIR helps avoid this by providing a framework for making apps that can help access all different formats of data in one place, which makes it easy to read, manage and implement.
Conclusion
So there you have it; these are some of the factors that add to the importance of FHIR in healthcare interoperability. However, we have only managed to scrape the tip of the iceberg. As the standard has paved the path for some of the biggest digital innovations the healthcare tech industry has experienced.
DevScripts Solutions is an IT Consultant Firm Specializing in Interoperability within the Healthcare Arena.
We are a small team solving big interoperability challenges on a daily basis. With our vast knowledge of interoperability we can integrate ourselves as part of your organization just like we are part of your full-time team. We develop a variety of custom interfaces for healthcare organizations such as Healthcare Vendors, HIEs, Health Systems, Hospitals, Medical Practices, Payors and ACOs using Mirth Connect.
We work with businesses in California, Georgia, New York, Florida, Texas and throughout the wider United States.
For more information on our services or to arrange a consultation call please contact us today.
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