An Open API Movement Seeks to Create an App Ecosystem

"What makes our smartphones so powerful is the multitude of apps and software programs that use open and accessible APIs [application programming interfaces] for delivering new products to consumers and businesses, creating new market entrants and opportunities. Much of the work on APIs involves sharing data at the individual patient level, but ONC also is working with HL7 and the SMART (Substitutable Medical Apps & Reusable Technology) team at Boston Children's Hospital on the idea of a FHIR-based population-level data API. Possible use cases include: * Exporting population level data to automatically compute quality measures. * Gathering data required under CMS alternative payment models in a more automated way could be done more quickly and much less expensively. * Using population-level data to identify the most appropriate patients to enroll in care management programs. In his blog post, Rucker points out that populationlevel data transfer that is aligned with HIPAA is "central to having a learning healthcare system, advancing many research priorities and use cases, and modernizing public health reporting."