Dental data exchange hits milestone with successful sharing of full record

ADA leads testing at standards event

Exchanging patient data electronically between dentists and between dental and medical providers is getting closer to reality.

In September, American Dental Association staff and dental technology developers participated in the testing of standards-based data exchange and successfully exchanged a full patient record from one record system through a dental health information exchange program to another record system. While this group had previously tested individual elements of the exchange, to its knowledge this was the first successful test of a Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources-based exchange of a full dental record.

“This milestone represents a key step forward in enabling seamless data exchange for both clinical and administrative purposes,” said Jennifer Thompson, D.D.S., vice chair of the ADA Council on Dental Practice. “The ADA continues to stand by its commitments to the dental community by collaborating actively in developing standards for data exchange to enhance clinical outcomes, reduce administrative burden and ensure interoperability across imaging systems, practice management systems and health care networks.”

The test occurred during the HL7 FHIR Connectathon, which is an event centered on developing resources and implementation guides related to Health Level Seven International’s Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources standard. HL7 is an American National Standards Institute-accredited organization that develops standards related to global health data interoperability, and its FHIR standard defines how health care information can be exchanged between different computer systems regardless of how it is stored in those systems.

The ADA has partnered with HL7 for many years, developing the dental content of interoperability standards while HL7 provides the technical elements. ADA staff served as the subject matter experts and leads for dental data exchange at the Connectathon.

During an HL7 government-focused stakeholder meeting after the event, a panel shared the success of the testing with government agencies and stakeholders. It was moderated by Natalia Chalmers, D.D.S., Ph.D., chief dental officer of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and panelists included Rebekah Fiehn, ADA director of dental benefits, coding and data exchange, among others. The panel discussed the future directions of FHIR-based dental data exchange as well as barriers to interoperability.

“As we continue this journey, we invite industry partners and medical and dental stakeholders to join the HL7 dental working group and contribute their insights and expertise,” Dr. Thompson said. “We look forward to expanding our testing efforts on a larger scale at future Connectathons with the ongoing support of the community.”

Those who are interested in learning more about how to get involved can contact Aarthi Shanmugavel, manager of health informatics and data exchange at the ADA, at shanmugavela@ada.org.