Which framework is most commonly used to interface data between clinical systems in healthcare?

The Health Level Seven (HL7) framework is widely recognized for its role in facilitating the exchange of information between clinical systems in healthcare settings. HL7 standards are designed to provide a comprehensive framework for the exchange, integration, sharing, and retrieval of electronic health information. This allows various healthcare systems and applications to communicate effectively, ensuring that patient data is readily accessible and understandable across different platforms.

The reason HL7 is the most commonly used framework in interfacing data is due to its rich set of established standards, which have been adopted by many healthcare organizations globally. These standards support the exchange of clinical and administrative data, making it possible for systems like electronic health records (EHR) and laboratory systems to work in harmony.

While FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) is gaining popularity as a modern standard built on web technologies, it is actually derived from HL7's principles and serves as a more flexible and developer-friendly approach. However, HL7 has been around for much longer and remains a foundational aspect of healthcare interoperability. The other options (XML and SOAP) serve as technologies for data format and transfer but do not specifically denote a comprehensive framework focused on healthcare data exchange as HL7 does. Thus, HL7 stands out as the established standard for