SoftwareX (May 2023)
Establishing three layer architecture to improve interoperability in Medicare using smart and strategic API led integration
Abstract
One of the most significant challenges facing the healthcare industry in the digital age is interoperability. At the present, electronic health records (EHRs) including the medical history of the patient, laboratory tests, demographics, medication and allergies, immunization status, radiology images, vital signs all are hidden in isolated databases, incompatible systems and proprietary software, which creates biggest obstacles to data exchange, analyze, and interpret. Healthcare sector is realizing the thrust of a system which allows healthcare facilities to access, analyze, and enhanced communication between systems, medical devices, and applications at a local or cross-organizational level. Application Programming Interface (API) integration has become the most popular solution for managing the flow of data between internal applications, EHRs, and other data exchange tools in the healthcare industry by enabling applications to exchange data and functionality easily and securely. In this paper, we suggest that interoperability is a must for most of the upcoming medical advancements. Among various examples of emerging technologies like IoT, SaaS and cloud computing, APIs are the best tool in order to maximize the performance in terms of earning more income, better understanding their customers, etc. The paper highlights the benefits of API and suggests a framework of API led integration to improve the interoperability of patient health information between healthcare organizations while maintaining the privacy and security of data.