Interoperability Principle

Part of the Dragon1 Open Standard - Architecture Principles

The principle of the interoperability concept is presented in the diagram below as an architecture principle. It is core to working with healthcare data and is adopted by many healthcare organizations.

Improving Principle Adopting

This page introduces the principle of interoperability to make it easier to use with management decisions and in solution designs at healthcare organizations.

The more and better people adopt this principle, the higher the quality of service delivery by the organization.

With principles you share knowledge of how something, like a concept, works. You explain which inevitable consequence is in a certain mechanism.

In the diagram the principle statement is kept generic, but the visualization is made healthcare-specific, to make it optimal recognizable, and understandable at healthcare organizations.

What does Interoperability mean?

What is it?

Interoperability means the ability to exchange data between computers, networks, systems, organizations, and individuals. Often it comes down to adequately defined and fully specified data formats.

Interoperability is important, especially in health care.

The better and quicker data can be shared and reused in a very secure way, the higher the quality of the data is.

Powerful Principle Title

Below is the concise Dragon1 formulation for the principle title

Using data formats and open interfaces leads to increased productivity.

Short Principle Statement

Below is the short Dragon1-by formulation of the principle

By having systems with data formats and open interfaces,it is ensured data can flow securely freely and unrestricted between systems, organizations.

Systems using open interfaces and data formats facilitate the secure, free and unrestricted flow of data between systems, organizations and individuals

Long Principle Statement

Below is the long Dragon1-by formulation of the principle

By designing and building systems with good interfaces, such as open stateless interfaces, specified open data formats, microservices, and standard protocols, it is ensured that data can flow freely and services and resources can be (re)used unrestricted, but securely between systems and organizations, thus enabling employees, end-users, clients, patients, and others to communicate, exchange information and access data and information more easily and quickly for better services and experience.

Example

A practical example of interoperability in health care is the following scenario.

The patient accesses his or her online patient dossier at home to allow or disallow access by certain healthcare providers and to check the correctness of personal data. A general practitioner sends a medical report to the hospital. A specialist in the hospital processes the information and stores the relevant information, correct, quick, and secure, in the patient dossier. After the treatment, the general practitioner receives notes from the specialist. The pharmacy has access to the patient dossier for preparing medicines. The systems of organizations are interconnected, the general practitioner, the hospital, the pharmacy, and the patient, are interoperable.

For the record: email and private email addresses, such as Gmail, should not be used to exchange medical data.

Use the principle by asking questions

You can use the principle of interoperability effectively by asking questions and putting the answers to these questions in a table, document, or visualization.

The principle teaches us that the benefits of interoperability are to increase productivity and quality of data and services.

This is partly because you do fewer things manually, are more standardized, and have fewer checking and improving actions concerning the data.

This is achieved because the systems use open interfaces and standardized data formats.

This means that wherever you do not use open interfaces and standard data formats, you are losing productivity and quality of data and service.

Interesting questions to ask in the organization based on this principle are therefore:

Which systems do we have in the organization?
What data do these systems exchange internally?
What data do these systems exchange externally with systems from other organizations?
Which type of interfaces and data formats are used for this?
Which versions of interfaces and data formats do we use? Always the last? And why not?
What data do we enter into the system and what data comes out?
Which input is done manually and why not automated? (think of invoices)
Which output takes place via standard reports and which via your reports or in an Excel sheet? and why?
Where do we use (insecure) email to share data? And why not in a safe way?
What do we type data from one screen to another screen?
What incidents have there been with data concerning data sharing?

The answers to these questions will help everyone improve interoperability.

From Interoperability Principle to Architecture Principle

Architecture is a coherent set of concepts. A concept is a way of working, an approach, an idea.

Many people use the term capability instead, but a capability is better seen as an implemented concept.

Seamless interoperability is an example of a great concept (or capability).

The working mechanism of a concept, the way a concept works, producing results, is the principle of the concept, in this case, the principle of interoperability.

When an organization officially establishes interoperability as a concept as part of an enterprise architecture, its principle automatically also becomes part of that enterprise architecture. It becomes a governed enterprise architecture principle.

When the principle of interoperability is officially established as an enterprise architecture principle, it will have an impact on all solution designs, it will be referred to in policies, and be used in integration projects and procurement processes of all systems in the organization.

Preventing Healthcare Fraud

Adopting the principle of interoperability not only helps in reducing errors in providing healthcare, but it also helps in combating fraud in healthcare.

In many countries, billions of dollars are lost due to healthcare fraud.

Large quantities of medicines and medical supplies, materials, and equipment are disappearing, fake invoices are being sent and declarations are sometimes incorrect.

By sharing all data maximally and securely via standards, it is easy to compare, verify and consolidate data.

This way you can provide much more targeted care and monitor the care provided. You can detect deviations faster.

Measuring and Improving Principle Adoption

The adoption of the interoperability principle can be measured and improved.

The blueprint makes visible where in the architecture layers the structure and design of the organization do not comply with approved and established principles and standards.

It makes it visible what the direct and indirect impact is on the organization's services, because of this.