What is data interoperability and why is it critical for care coordination?

• A. The ability to exchange data between disparate IT systems
• B. A policy restricting data sharing
• C. The ability to exchange data between disparate IT systems and interpret the data to support care coordination
• D. A hardware requirement for data storage

Answer: (C)

Data interoperability means that different health IT systems can connect and share data in a way that the receiving system can understand and use it to support patient care across settings. It’s not enough to just move information from one system to another; the data must be interpretable so clinicians can act on it. This involves both the technical ability to exchange data (formats, interfaces) and the semantic part—agreeing on codes and meanings for things like labs, medications, and diagnoses—so a clinician in one setting can grasp what the information means in the patient’s context. When data are interoperable, a patient’s history, test results, medications, and care plans flow across primary care, specialists, hospitals, and home health, enabling timely decisions, reducing duplicate testing, preventing adverse events, and smoothing care transitions.