Getting interoperability right; myths, opportunity, and ugly acronyms

EMIS Group’s Dr Shaun O’Hanlon gives some practical advice on interoperability through Open APIs.

It’s not the most elegant acronym in the world, but Open APIs is a key term in the standard CCIO vocabulary – reflecting the rising importance of interoperability and open standards in healthcare informatics.

Achieving joined-up healthcare is a vital objective for the NHS – never more so than at this time of intense financial pressure and radical change recently articulated in the farreaching‘sustainability and transformation plans’ (STPs).

Despite the central importance of interoperability to healthcare strategy, there remains a good deal of confusion around what exactly we mean by Open APIs, and how these can be used to deliver a revolution in healthcare information. Instead, we use it as a throwaway term in interoperability discussions; “that’ll all be easier with Open APIs” and “all we need is the suppliers to provide Open APIs”.

Here, Dr Shaun O’Hanlon, Chief Medical Officer at EMIS Group, identifies five common myths and signposts useful sources of further information.

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Where can I find out more?
Useful sources of information and support include:

• www.interopen.org
• https://www.england.nhs.uk/digitaltechnology/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2015/09/interoperabilty-handbk.pdf
• https://www.emishealth.com/thinking/

And of course, Digital Health provides daily news and updates as well as more in-depth insight.
Dr Shaun O’Hanlon is Chief Medical Officer of EMIS Health.