What historical challenge in healthcare data management does the evolution of health APIs primarily address?
Overcoming data silos where disparate computer systems could not communicate.
The entire history of health API development is framed as an effort to break down data silos. Data silos refer to the condition where electronic health information becomes trapped within the specific software systems or databases developed by different vendors over many decades. These isolated systems could not easily exchange information because they lacked a common language or protocol. The evolution, from rudimentary 1970s systems to standards like HL7 v2 and finally FHIR, represents successive attempts to establish conventions that allow these disparate systems—built by different entities—to speak the same language, ensuring information flows securely and efficiently across organizational boundaries.
