Which standard defines data exchange formats and APIs?

Which standard defines data exchange formats and APIs?

• A. SNOMED CT
• B. HL7 FHIR
• C. DICOM
• D. ICD-10-CM

Answer: (B)

Interoperability in health IT hinges on a single, consistent way to represent information and a predictable way to request and retrieve it. HL7 FHIR provides exactly that by defining both the data structures and the APIs used to access them. It models discrete clinical pieces of data as resources (like Patient, Observation, or Medication) and specifies how these resources are encoded (such as JSON or XML) and grouped into bundles. It also standardizes operations—creating, reading, updating, deleting, and searching resources—via a RESTful API, with attention to security and versioning. This combination of standardized data formats and a common API makes it possible for diverse systems and applications to exchange information smoothly and at scale. SNOMED CT, by contrast, is a comprehensive clinical terminology used to encode meanings in data, not to define exchange formats or APIs. DICOM focuses on imaging data and the protocols for handling that specific kind of data, not general health information exchange. ICD-10-CM is a coding system for diagnoses used in records and billing, not a framework for data interchange formats or APIs. HL7 FHIR is the option that defines both the data formats and the APIs for exchanging health information.

Interoperability in health IT hinges on a single, consistent way to represent information and a predictable way to request and retrieve it. HL7 FHIR provides exactly that by defining both the data structures and the APIs used to access them. It models discrete clinical pieces of data as resources (like Patient, Observation, or Medication) and specifies how these resources are encoded (such as JSON or XML) and grouped into bundles. It also standardizes operations—creating, reading, updating, deleting, and searching resources—via a RESTful API, with attention to security and versioning. This combination of standardized data formats and a common API makes it possible for diverse systems and applications to exchange information smoothly and at scale.

SNOMED CT, by contrast, is a comprehensive clinical terminology used to encode meanings in data, not to define exchange formats or APIs. DICOM focuses on imaging data and the protocols for handling that specific kind of data, not general health information exchange. ICD-10-CM is a coding system for diagnoses used in records and billing, not a framework for data interchange formats or APIs. HL7 FHIR is the option that defines both the data formats and the APIs for exchanging health information.