Electronic Data Interchange - The Blood Viens of Healthcare

In healthcare, Electronic data interchange (EDI) in healthcare is a secure means of communicating information between hospitals, clinics, insurance payers, and patients using specific messaging standards and formats. Having an EDI streamlines day-to-day operations at hospitals as well as associated organizations like health insurance companies and clearinghouses.

But it was not always standardized. Different manufacturers developed their own data formats for transmitting medical data among compatible health systems. There was a time when there were about 400 standards of data used for exchanging information. It meant that the staff at a healthcare organization using one type of system had to ensure that the information they transmitted to another organization was compatible with that organization’s system. If not, then there was an elaborate series of measures to ensure interoperability.

Needless to point out, this increased the possibility of errors in the conversion of the data, posed risks to the privacy and integrity of the data, and generally resulted in higher IT overhead. However, the HIPAA electronic data exchange (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) regulation meant that hospitals, payers, and others in the healthcare ecosystem had to use uniform standards for all kinds of medical information exchanges. This not only speeds up the process of pulling up medical information but also ensures its security and integrity.