Data Interoperability, Knowledge Interoperability and the Learning Health System

True data interoperability implies both syntactic and semantic interoperability. Simply put, syntactic interoperability refers to the ability to move data from one EHR to another, for example, using a common transport method.

Taken together with the evolving USCDI (U.S. Core Data for Interoperability) standard, which progressively and incrementally grows the standard terminology and definitions for clinical data, we have a clear path toward requisite semantic and syntactic data interoperability – true data liquidity at scale.

A related issue is that modern clinical practice and cognitive support with EHRs requires use of an array of knowledge components: from standards for billing and coding to clinical data standards for quality measurement and reporting, to value sets and reusable logic components, and ideally common clinical workflows for effective use.