Interoperability in Healthcare: How APIs are Bridging the Gap

Interoperability is the lifeblood of the modern healthcare sector. Effective patient care relies on the ability of disparate healthcare systems, devices, and applications to seamlessly access, exchange, and ultimately use data; without interoperability, this would not be possible.

A failure of interoperability in a healthcare environment can have enormous consequences, ranging from the financial – such as increased healthcare costs – to the existential – including medication errors that put lives at risk.

The Importance of Interoperability in Healthcare

Before the introduction of electronic health records (EHR), the healthcare sector was, in many ways, unrecognizable from the one we know today. Until as recently as the 1990s and even early 2000s, most hospitals relied on physical health records, meaning that patient healthcare information was far more challenging to source, share, and use. EHRs were the first step to interoperability, digitizing healthcare information and making it far more widely available.

The interoperability brought about by EHRs transformed patient care. It allowed caregivers to access comprehensive and current patient data from multiple sources—such as hospitals, labs, and primary care providers—at the click of a button, regardless of their location. Streamlined access to data facilitated more accurate diagnoses, allowing for coordinated care between different specialists and reducing the risk of duplicate tests or inaccurate prescriptions.

Similarly, EHRs and interoperability granted patients unprecedented access to their healthcare records and the opportunity to take an active role in their care. They allowed patients to share medical information with healthcare providers, streamlining and refining the diagnosis process and allowing them to make more informed decisions about treatment options and lifestyle choices.

Aside from patient outcomes, interoperability also significantly reduced the administrative burden on healthcare providers. It minimized the need for manual and duplicate data entry, streamlining workflows across different departments and institutions, and reduced the risk of error, ultimately freeing up time for healthcare professionals and dramatically reducing operational costs. 

The Role of APIs in Achieving Interoperability

Interoperability in modern healthcare environments relies on Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), protocols, standards, and tools that allow disparate software applications to communicate. They facilitate:

• Data Standardization: APIs provide a set of protocols and definitions for data exchange that ensure healthcare systems use consistent data formats and structures. This enables these systems to understand and process information regardless of the underlying technology or software.
• Seamless Integration: APIs act as a bridge between software systems, meaning they can connect and interact with one another without re-engineering existing infrastructure.
• Real-Time Data Exchange: APIs facilitate instant data exchange between healthcare systems. For example, they make a patient’s lab results immediately available to their primary care provider.
• Modularity and Scalability: APIs allow healthcare providers to add new functionalities, integrate with news systems, and scale their operations as necessary without needing new or updated infrastructure.

Challenges to API-driven Interoperability

Of course, as with any technological advancement, AI-driven interoperability comes with challenges. They include:

Data Security and Privacy

Perhaps most pressing is the risk of compromised data security and privacy. Poorly secured APIs can significantly increase the risk of security incidents that result in healthcare data theft and, ultimately, legal consequences from regulators like HIPAA.

Poor Standardization

Standardization issues have also plagued API implementation in the healthcare sector. Despite standards like FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources), variations in API implementation, a lack of universally accepted standards, and data format differences persist and prevent many healthcare systems from communicating effectively.

Legacy Technologies

Outdated, legacy technologies that don’t support APIs or cannot be integrated with other systems also present a problem for API-driven interoperability in the healthcare sector. Many healthcare organizations lack the budgets necessary to replace these technologies, leaving some patient data trapped in them, which results in data siloes and poor interoperability.

Stakeholder Buy-in

Achieving API-driven interoperability requires the buy-in and collaboration of multiple stakeholders. Aligning the interests and priorities of these diverse groups can be challenging. Providers may be concerned about the costs and disruptions associated with adopting new technologies, while vendors may be reluctant to embrace open standards that could reduce their competitive advantage.

Success Stories

Despite these challenges, API-driven interoperability in the healthcare sector has seen several significant success stories. For example, Epic Systems and Cerner—two of the United States’ most prominent EHR vendors—implemented APIs to facilitate their interoperability solutions to great effect. Despite the two vendors having historically closed systems, patient health data can now be shared between Epic systems and Cerner-based providers.

Similarly, SMART (Substitutable Medical Applications, Reusable Technologies) on FHIR – an open, standards-based platform that allows developers to create healthcare applications that can be integrated with any EHR system that supports the FHIR standard – enabled the development of a wide range of innovative healthcare applications that can be used across different EHR platforms. For instance, the Boston Children’s Hospital developed an app using SMART on FHIR that allows clinicians to visualize patient growth charts in real-time, integrating data from multiple sources.

Best Practices for Implementing Healthcare APIs

Successful implementation of healthcare APIs relies on sticking to several established best practices. These include:

1. Adopting and Adhering to Standards: Established healthcare standards like FHIR, HL7, and DICOM ensure interoperability and compatibility across disparate systems and define the formatting, transmission, and interpretation of data, easing integration with other healthcare systems.
2. Prioritizing Security: Keep security in mind throughout your implementation process by using secure encryption protocols for data at rest and in transit, robust authentication methods, strict access controls, and regularly auditing and monitoring API activity.
3. Engage Stakeholders: Involve all relevant stakeholders from the beginning of your implementation journey, listen to feedback, address any concerns, and train all appropriate users.
4. Test and Validate: Ensure your APIs function as they should by testing and validating them as regularly as possible. Tests should include those on performance, integration, units, and security.

Conclusion

Interoperability improves healthcare, and APIs enhance it. While implementing APIs in the healthcare sector presents significant challenges and considerations, the results are well worth it. What’s more, API-driven interoperability is an inevitability: healthcare organizations must invest in interoperable solutions now to avoid falling behind their competitors.

To find out more about APIs in the healthcare sector and how to protect healthcare organizations from API attacks, register now for Probely’s latest webinar, Unveiling Hidden APIs and Securing Vulnerabilities in the Healthcare Sector.