Are you familiar with HL7 and its current applications in healthcare?
Before we get into its fundamentals and more complex HL7 integration strategies, this article aims to explain HL7 comprehensively.
What is HL7?
HL7 is a widely adopted health data standard developed by HL7 International.
The HL7 collection of data standards is described as being used to facilitate the easy movement of health data across different healthcare providers. Simply said, when compared to earlier techniques, HL7 streamlines and improves the process of sharing healthcare data.
The need for creating proprietary interfaces across clinical apps has been abolished by HL7, which greatly simplifies the interface implementation procedure.
HL7: Why Was It Created?
The procedure of exchanging data between healthcare systems was exceedingly challenging before the development of HL7—both the sending and receiving programs needed to program extensively to complete the data exchange procedure. Because there was no set collection of patient attributes, these interfaces were expensive. As a result, a typical hospital had few clinical interfaces during the 1980s, and each interface cost a lot of money.
The main objective of HL7 is to reduce the expense associated with developing custom interfaces by making it simpler to create interfaces between medical software applications and various manufacturers.
Related: Webinar on HL7® FHIR® On-Line Core Essentials
Why is HL7 necessary?
Today, most healthcare professionals employ various software for billing, patient record upkeep, patient data updates, etc. The main issue is that despite the fact that software has to communicate with each other frequently, doing so is exceedingly tricky. The sharing of information between two healthcare professionals will also provide some challenges.
Software developers and healthcare organizations can store and move data universally thanks to the standards and guidelines provided by HL7. In this approach, the programs can use the information without needing specialized conversion tools. Simply said, HL7 simplifies data sharing, lowering the administrative load on healthcare providers and enhancing patient care.
Everyday HL7 Challenges
The “non-standard standard” is another term for HL7 standards. In other words, in order to make the standards adaptable, they are eventually applied and understood differently across healthcare companies. However, each iteration of the HL7 standards has led to tighter regulations in an effort to increase consistency among businesses. APIs may also be able to assist in overcoming these difficulties.
The IHE is also aiming to construct profiles, which add another layer of policies to HL7 standards, making them more foreseeable and understandable. These profiles, for instance, develop standards for medical equipment that enable “out of the box” EHR and communication device connections.
What is HL7 FHIR? Why are providers using it?
The most recent data standard created from HL7 standards, Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR), was designed specifically for the web. FHIR is currently used in addition to HL7 standards. They will also develop even further in the future. The key benefits of using FHIR are as follows:
- FHIR makes data sharing simple
- Friendly to Developers
- Use of the specification is free
- Quick and Simple to Implement
- Cost-Savings Method
- RESTful architecture is supported
- FHIR works well with mobile devices
HL7 FHIR: A real-time application
Utilizing HL7 integration, a U.S.-based healthcare communications company receives input from numerous hospital systems, including remote patient monitoring devices, the electronic health record, radiology, laboratory, and others. This makes it simple for teams to communicate via mobile devices like smartphones, pagers, and other gadgets.
I’m prepared to begin using HL7 FHIR. What’s next?
You’re most likely headed in the right direction toward increased interoperability if you’re prepared to streamline your healthcare data exchange procedure with HL7 FHIR. Microtek Learning offers the greatest HL7 FHIR SMART integration services to assist you. Send a message to find out more.