Table 1.
Glossary of terms relevant to PFT–EHR interoperability
| APIs (47) | An API is an interface that allows unrelated software programs to communicate with one another. They act as bridges between two applications, allowing data to flow regardless of how each application was originally designed. |
| Connectivity (48) | The ability to connect to or communicate with another computer or computer system. |
| EHR (49) | An electronic record of health-related information on an individual that conforms to nationally recognized interoperability standards and that can be created, managed, and consulted by authorized clinicians and staff across more than one healthcare organization. |
| FHIR (50, 51) | FHIR (pronounced “fire”) is a standard for exchanging healthcare information electronically, describing data formats and elements (known as "resources"). The standard was created by the HL7 healthcare standards organization. |
| HEDIS (52) | HEDIS is one of health care’s most widely used performance-improvement tools. HEDIS includes more than 90 measures across 6 domains of care. Health plans collect data about their performance on certain services and types of care. They report the data to the NCQA, which rates health plans. Health plans use HEDIS to see where they are performing well and where they need to improve. Employers and consumers can also use HEDIS measures when deciding what health plan to choose. |
| HL7 International (53) | The HL7 standards are produced by HL7 International, an international standards organization. HL7 and its members provide a framework (and related standards) for the exchange, integration, sharing, and retrieval of electronic health information. These standards define how information is packaged and communicated from one party to another, setting the language, structure, and data types required for seamless integration between systems. HL7 standards support clinical practice and the management, delivery, and evaluation of health services and are recognized as the most commonly used in the world. |
| Interoperability (1, 2, 4, 5, 28, 30, 47, 48, 54–58) | In health care, interoperability is the ability of different information-technology systems and software applications to communicate; to exchange data accurately, effectively, and consistently; and to use the information that has been exchanged. |
| Integration (1, 5, 57) | Integration is the process of combining multiple different, often disparate, subsystems to function together as a unified whole. This often includes building of customized architecture or structure of applications (“middleware”). Conceptually, the difference between interoperability and integration can be likened to the difference between having a conversation in a common language (interoperability) and having a conversation through an interpreter (integration). |
| LOINC (38) | LOINC were developed to provide a definitive standard for identifying clinical information in electronic reports. The LOINC database provides a set of universal names and ID codes for identifying laboratory and clinical test results. LOINC are intended to identify the test result or clinical observation. |
| NCQA (8) | The NCQA is an independent U.S. nonprofit organization that works to improve the quality of health care through standardized measures and accreditation. |
| SNOMED (9, 30, 59) | SNOMED is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to produce and enhance the vocabulary that enables the clear exchange of health information for all. SNOMED owns and operates SNOMED CT, a systematically organized collection of medical terms standardized for use in the electronic exchange of medical information. SNOMED CT provides codes, terms, synonyms, and definitions used in clinical documentation and reporting. |
| SQL (60) | SQL (pronounced “sequel”) is a standardized programming language that is used to operate databases. SQL is a standard language that facilitates management of relational databases and performance of various operations (deletion, fetching, modifying) on the data in databases. |
Definition of abbreviations: API = application-programming interface; CT = Clinical Terms; EHR = electronic health record; FHIR = Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources; HEDIS = Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set; HL7 = Health Level 7; ID = identifier; LOINC = Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes; NCQA = National Committee for Quality Assurance; PFT = pulmonary function test; SNOMED = Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine; SQL = Structured Query Language.