Interoperability, or the back-and-forth exchange of patient health data among different organizations, is seen as the "ultimate IT GOAL of the modern healthcare system," when discussing meaningful use, HITECH and the AFFORDABLE Care Act, said Brull. "One of the major challenges to healthcare interoperability is defining common standards for structured content of healthcare data and the TRANSPORT of that data between different systems, created by different vendors," he said. Creating consensus behind a common healthcare standard is the mission of HL7, which was FOUNDED in 1987. "The HL7 Standard was created and has since become widely adopted by vendors worldwide to define content," said Brull.

Interoperability, or the back-and-forth exchange of patient health data among different organizations, is seen as the "ultimate IT goal of the modern healthcare system," when discussing meaningful use, HITECH and the Affordable Care Act, said Brull. "One of the major challenges to healthcare interoperability is defining common standards for structured content of healthcare data and the transport of that data between different systems, created by different vendors," he said. Creating consensus behind a common healthcare standard is the mission of HL7, which was founded in 1987. "The HL7 Standard was created and has since become widely adopted by vendors worldwide to define content," said Brull.