Over the past decade, healthcare has undergone a secular shift. Technology has changed how care is initiated, delivered, and managed. Digitalizing medical records created an environment that was ripe with possibilities to innovate.

Patients want to own their healthcare experience and journey. Today's environment requires healthcare organizations and providers to use new technology applications to deliver the care and outcomes their patient’s desire.

The healthcare market today needs to be connected and tightly integrated. When selecting products and solutions, organizations and providers require the applications they use to integrate and share data.

What is HL7?

Health Level Seven (HL7) is the most common international standard for transferring and sharing healthcare data between providers and technology systems. HL7 is broad and is appropriate for many use cases. Many other healthcare data standards exist but are generally more specialized and apply to more nuanced or specific workflows.

In a previous blog, we reviewed the history and different versions of HL7. HL7 standards are likely here to stay and will serve as a reliable method to set up interfaces between technology applications in healthcare.

What Advantages Do HL7 Interfaces Provide?

HL7 interfaces are connections between two systems that enable sharing of healthcare data. Through an interface, systems can send and receive information and data in a standardized way and can provide several benefits, including:

1. Improved Efficiency: HL7 interfaces automate the process of exchanging healthcare data. Interoperability allows users to spend less time managing technology and applications and more time delivering care and working with patients.
2. Better Patient Care: Providers and patients can access a complete, or more complete, medical record. Data often originates in different systems and can be sent to another application or consolidated in a centralized location such as a data warehouse.
3. Reduced Manual Work: Interoperable EHRs and healthcare applications reduce the need for manual data entry. Instead of logging in to multiple applications or transposing data from one system to another, healthcare data is exchanged and presented in a single location.
4. Data Analytics: When healthcare data is standardized and shared between multiple sources, running analytics to gather evidence and improve care, operations and outcomes become more effective.

How Does the Intely Platform Support HL7 Integration?

The Intely Platform is a no-code healthcare data interoperability platform. We make the infrastructure to seamlessly integrate with any EHR, business application, and healthcare solution readily available for innovators. With pre-built connectors, data standardization, and composable workflows, we handle the heavy lifting and complexity and simplify healthcare interoperability.

Intely supports out-of-the-box interfaces for various HL7 standards such as HL7 v2, C-CDA, and FHIR, making it easy for customers to connect to the systems their users and customers want. Our platform can convert between various formats to ensure interoperability.

What Benefits Can This Provide to Healthcare Technology and Organizations?

HL7 interfaces, especially when configured in the Intely Platform, provide a method and opportunity for healthcare products and applications to improve their value delivery. A provider uses a wide range of applications in their daily workflow, and there are generally multiple applications to choose from for a given use case or modality.

An integrated solution that communicates with the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system and across the broader technology stack can stand out and be a competitive edge. EHR integration and data interoperability can help drive user adoption and improve the value technology brings to the healthcare domain.

HL7 (Health Level Seven) is an international standard for transferring and sharing healthcare data between providers and technology systems. It facilitates interoperability by standardizing how healthcare information is exchanged, making it a widely used and reliable method for setting up interfaces in healthcare.

HL7 interfaces offer several benefits:

• Improved Efficiency: Automates the exchange of healthcare data, allowing users to focus more on patient care.
• Better Patient Care: Enables access to more complete medical records by consolidating data from various systems.
• Reduced Manual Work: Minimizes the need for manual data entry by facilitating data exchange between systems.
• Data Analytics: Standardized data sharing allows for effective analytics to improve care, operations, and outcomes.

The Intely Platform is a no-code healthcare data interoperability platform designed to simplify healthcare interoperability. It supports various HL7 standards (e.g., HL7 v2, C-CDA, FHIR) with pre-built connectors, data standardization, and composable workflows. Intely handles the complexity of data integration, making it easy for customers to connect to the systems they need.

The Intely Platform supports multiple HL7 standards, including:

• HL7 v2: Widely used for clinical messaging.
• C-CDA (Consolidated Clinical Document Architecture): Facilitates document-based data exchange.
• FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources): Modern standard for exchanging healthcare information electronically.

HL7 integration provides significant benefits, including:

• Enhanced Value Delivery: Integrated solutions that communicate effectively with EMR systems can enhance the overall value of healthcare applications.
• Competitive Edge: Solutions that offer seamless interoperability can stand out in the market, driving user adoption and satisfaction.
• Operational Efficiency: Streamlined data exchange reduces administrative burdens and improves the efficiency of healthcare delivery.

Interoperability is essential because it ensures that healthcare applications can share and access data seamlessly. This connectivity improves patient care, operational efficiency, and overall outcomes by providing comprehensive and timely information across different systems and applications.

The Intely Platform simplifies interoperability by providing a no-code solution with pre-built connectors and standardized workflows. Innovators can easily integrate with EHRs, business applications, and other healthcare solutions without handling the technical complexities of data integration.