Organizations want to leverage the investments they have already made in systems development, deployment and training. For public health surveillance activities that means users do not want to enter data more than once, and interfaces between systems are critical to successful projects. At the national level, several important initiatives are under way, which are attempting to promote healthcare systems integration and data sharing.

Systems integration means two distinct things. Within an organization, interapplication communication supports access of data between local systems, though these systems may span physical locations and political hierarchies. In a larger context, systems integration refers to interapplication communications, usually less tightly coupled, between systems in different jurisdictions, organizations, or areas of the healthcare environment.

HLN is currently active in several activities exploring various approaches and standards to promote interapplication communication and interoperability. HLN monitors various National projects, helps its clients understand these initiatives, and participates wherever possible in these activities. HLN's role is to bridge the gaps between our clients' projects and current strategic and tactical initiatives in this direction. HLN is also involved in projects that are planning and supporting Health Information Exchange (HIE) and Regional Health Information Organization (RHIOs). Finally, HLN continues to develop and deliver talks at regional and national forums about these issues.