Without semantic interoperability among disparate healthcare IT systems, sharing data in a useful way is impossible. While a doctor knows that dropsy describes the same illness as congestive heart failure, a computer typically can’t make that type of distinction. Semantic interoperability, however, creates a common vocabulary that paves the way for accurate and reliable communication among computers.
This fluent machine-to-machine communication depends on the ability of different HIT systems to map different terms to shared semantics, or meaning. Semantic interoperability is viewed as critical for a number of healthcare initiatives including quality improvement programs, population health management and data warehousing. It also plays a pivotal role in emerging healthcare organizations and models including health information exchanges, Accountable Care Organizations and Patient Centered Medical Homes.
While it’s easy to see why semantic interoperability is important, grasping its essence isn’t quite as simple. An analogy from the banking industry helps explain the concept. But first, here is a summary of how the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) defines the different levels of data exchange, including semantic interoperability.
What is data interoperability in healthcare?
HIMSS has published an interoperability definition that describes ascending tiers of interoperability. The lowest tier -- called foundational interoperability -- permits data exchanged from one HIT system to another, but does not require the receiving system to interpret the data.
Building upon the base tier, structural interoperability “defines the structure or format of data exchange,” according to HIMSS. The Health Level 7 (HL7) series of standards, for example, provides guidance on how messages should be structured.
Semantic interoperability, meanwhile, represents the highest level of interoperability in the HIMSS definition. Semantic interoperability deals with the content of the messages exchanged among HIT systems, not just the messaging format.
“Semantic interoperability takes advantage of both the structuring of the data exchange and the codification of the data including vocabulary so that the receiving information technology systems can interpret the data,” HIMSS noted.