Health Data Standards and Interoperability
Health Data Standards and Interoperability Health data standards are shared rules that let different health IT systems speak the same language. They cover how data is labeled, formatted, and exchanged. When teams use common standards, a clinician in one hospital can see the same patient information as a clinician in another setting, without manual re-entry. Standard vocabularies and exchange formats reduce guesswork. For example, FHIR provides small “resources” like Patient and Observation that apps can request from a server. HL7 guides message formats used in many labs and clinics. LOINC codes describe lab tests, while SNOMED CT gives precise medical terms. ICD-10-CM classifies diagnoses. Together, these tools help create a shared understanding of patient data. ...