HealthTech Data Standards and Interoperability
HealthTech data is growing fast. Yet without common standards, patient records stay in silos. Interoperability means systems can exchange, understand, and act on information. Standards give a shared language for structure, meaning, and privacy.
In healthcare, core standards cover data formats, terminology, and privacy rules. HL7 FHIR is widely used for clinical data, while DICOM remains the standard for imaging. Terminologies like SNOMED CT and LOINC keep codes consistent so a lab result means the same everywhere.
Interoperability has three dimensions:
- Syntactic: the file or message format
- Semantic: the meaning of codes and data
- Organizational: policies, consent, and governance
Practical steps for teams:
- Start with a clear use case and map data to a standard
- Choose a core standard (FHIR for clinical data, DICOM for images)
- Align codes to SNOMED CT and LOINC
- Build secure APIs with OAuth2 and SMART on FHIR
- Establish a data governance plan to manage versions and quality
Examples:
- A clinic sends a patient summary as a FHIR Bundle, with diagnoses coded in SNOMED and labs in LOINC.
- An imaging study uses DICOM metadata to link images to a patient record in the EHR.
Benefits are clear: faster data sharing, fewer manual steps, better care coordination, and easier research collaboration.
Common challenges include legacy systems, versioning, and data quality gaps. Mitigation comes from governance, pilot testing, clear mappings, and good documentation.
Take a practical approach: start with a small, high-value use case, publish a data map, and run end-to-end tests with de-identified data. Review standards regularly as new versions appear.
Key Takeaways
- Standards enable safe, timely health information exchange
- FHIR, SNOMED, and LOINC are key building blocks
- A simple governance plan helps keep systems aligned