Which data interchange standard is widely used for electronic health records to enable data exchange between systems?

Which data interchange standard is widely used for electronic health records to enable data exchange between systems?

• A. ICD-10
• B. DICOM
• C. HL7
• D. FHIR

Answer: (C)

Data exchange between electronic health record systems relies on a standardized messaging framework that defines how patient information and clinical data are packaged for transfer. HL7 provides that widely adopted structure, outlining how different systems communicate about admissions, orders, results, and demographics so data can move smoothly from one system to another. In practice, HL7 v2.x messages are already embedded in many hospital workflows, enabling interoperability across EHRs, labs, and pharmacies. Newer approaches like FHIR are built to improve and modernize data exchange with web-based APIs, but HL7 remains the backbone of existing inter-system sharing. ICD-10 is a coding system for diagnoses, not a data interchange format, and DICOM is specific to medical imaging data, not general EHR data exchange.

Data exchange between electronic health record systems relies on a standardized messaging framework that defines how patient information and clinical data are packaged for transfer. HL7 provides that widely adopted structure, outlining how different systems communicate about admissions, orders, results, and demographics so data can move smoothly from one system to another. In practice, HL7 v2.x messages are already embedded in many hospital workflows, enabling interoperability across EHRs, labs, and pharmacies. Newer approaches like FHIR are built to improve and modernize data exchange with web-based APIs, but HL7 remains the backbone of existing inter-system sharing. ICD-10 is a coding system for diagnoses, not a data interchange format, and DICOM is specific to medical imaging data, not general EHR data exchange.