The Healthcare
Interoperability Glossary
Confused by FHIR, HL7, SOC 2, and BAAs? We break down complex enterprise interoperability terms and explain exactly how we engineer solutions around them.
FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources)
A standard describing data formats and elements (known as 'resources') and an Application Programming Interface (API) for exchanging electronic health records. It builds on previous HL7 data format standards.
The Opexia Approach
Opexia uses FHIR APIs as the modern bridge between custom workflow applications and legacy EHR systems, ensuring your custom PM software can read/write data in real-time.
FHIR R4
The fourth major release of the FHIR standard, published in 2019, representing the first normative (stable) version of FHIR suitable for production implementations.
The Opexia Approach
We architect all EHR integrations using FHIR R4 resources to ensure long-term API stability and compliance with modern healthcare interoperability requirements.
HL7 (Health Level Seven)
A set of international standards used to transfer and share data between various healthcare providers. HL7 v2 is widely used for legacy messaging.
The Opexia Approach
While older than FHIR, our middleware engines are built to seamlessly ingest, parse, and translate complex HL7 v2 feeds into clean JSON data for modern applications.
HL7 v2.x
The second version of HL7 messaging standards, still widely used in legacy hospital systems for ADT (Admission, Discharge, Transfer) feeds, lab results, and billing transactions.
The Opexia Approach
Our data pipelines parse HL7 v2.x pipe-delimited messages in real-time, transforming them into structured FHIR resources for modern cloud applications.
SMART on FHIR
An open specification that enables third-party applications to securely authenticate and retrieve patient data from EHR systems using OAuth 2.0 and FHIR APIs.
The Opexia Approach
We implement SMART on FHIR authorization flows to build patient-facing portals and provider tools that securely integrate with Epic, Cerner, and other enterprise EHRs.
RPA (Robotic Process Automation)
Software technology that makes it easy to build, deploy, and manage software robots that emulate human actions interacting with digital systems and software.
The Opexia Approach
We deploy custom RPA bots specifically for medical billing—scraping payer portals, checking prior authorization statuses, and auto-reconciling EOBs without human intervention.
BAA (Business Associate Agreement)
A written contract between a HIPAA-covered entity and a HIPAA business associate. The contract establishes specifically what the business associate has been engaged to do and requires them to comply with HIPAA Rules.
The Opexia Approach
Opexia operates strictly under signed BAAs for all custom software projects, ensuring your cloud architecture and data handling are legally compliant from day one.
HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
A federal law that required the creation of national standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient's consent or knowledge.
The Opexia Approach
We build all custom applications using Zero-Trust architectures, KMS-encrypted databases, and automated audit logging out-of-the-box to ensure flawless HIPAA compliance.
PHI (Protected Health Information)
Any information in a medical record that can be used to identify an individual and that was created, used, or disclosed in the course of providing a health care service. Includes names, addresses, dates, SSNs, and medical record numbers.
The Opexia Approach
All Opexia-built systems implement field-level encryption for PHI at rest, TLS 1.3 for PHI in transit, and strict IAM policies ensuring only authorized personnel can access identifiable patient data.
SOC 2 Type II
An auditing procedure that ensures your service providers securely manage your data to protect the interests of your organization and the privacy of its clients.
The Opexia Approach
If you are a health-tech startup selling to enterprise hospitals, we provide custom engineering remediation to ensure your SaaS platform passes SOC 2 Type II vendor audits.
EHR (Electronic Health Record) Middleware
Software that sits between two disparate systems (like a modern SaaS app and an enterprise EHR like Epic) to allow them to communicate via APIs.
The Opexia Approach
Opexia engineers custom middleware layers that securely route data from highly-usable frontend applications directly into the rigid backend schemas of Epic, Cerner, or Athenahealth.
EMR (Electronic Medical Record)
A digital version of a patient's chart within a single practice or clinic. Unlike EHRs, EMRs are not designed to be shared outside the individual practice.
The Opexia Approach
When building custom practice management software, we design EMR databases with future interoperability in mind—ensuring you can eventually share records via FHIR even if you start as a closed system.
EOB (Explanation of Benefits)
A statement sent by a health insurance company to covered individuals explaining what medical treatments and/or services were paid for on their behalf.
The Opexia Approach
Our RPA automation bots automatically parse digital EOB PDFs and portal messages, reconciling payments against the master patient ledger inside your practice management software.
Prior Authorization
A requirement by health insurance companies that healthcare providers obtain approval before performing a service or prescribing a medication to ensure coverage and payment.
The Opexia Approach
We build RPA bots that monitor payer portals 24/7, automatically submitting prior authorization requests and tracking approval statuses to eliminate manual follow-ups.
CCM (Chronic Care Management)
A Medicare program that reimburses providers for coordinating care for patients with two or more chronic conditions. Requires at least 20 minutes of non-face-to-face care coordination per month.
The Opexia Approach
Opexia builds custom CCM platforms that automate time-tracking, patient outreach workflows, and Medicare billing code generation to maximize reimbursement while maintaining compliance.
PCM (Principal Care Management)
A newer Medicare reimbursement program similar to CCM, but focused on patients with a single high-risk chronic condition requiring substantial care coordination.
The Opexia Approach
Our custom care coordination software seamlessly handles both CCM and PCM workflows, automatically categorizing patients and generating the correct billing codes based on documented time.
ADT Feed (Admission, Discharge, Transfer)
Real-time HL7 messages sent by hospital systems whenever a patient is admitted, discharged, or transferred between units. Critical for care coordination and timely interventions.
The Opexia Approach
We build real-time ADT ingestion pipelines that listen for HL7 v2 messages, normalize them into FHIR resources, and trigger automated workflows like follow-up care scheduling.
Care Coordination Platform
Software that enables healthcare teams to collaborate on patient care plans, track interventions, schedule follow-ups, and document outcomes across multiple providers and facilities.
The Opexia Approach
Opexia engineers HIPAA-compliant care coordination platforms with embedded EHR integrations, automated patient outreach, and real-time task assignment for interdisciplinary care teams.
Claim Scrubbing
The process of reviewing medical claims for errors, missing information, or coding issues before submission to insurance payers to reduce denial rates and accelerate reimbursement.
The Opexia Approach
We build intelligent claim scrubbing engines that use rule-based logic and payer-specific requirements to flag errors before submission, reducing denial rates by 40-60%.
Revenue Cycle Management (RCM)
The financial process healthcare organizations use to track patient care episodes from registration and appointment scheduling to the final payment of a balance.
The Opexia Approach
Our custom RCM dashboards provide real-time visibility into claim statuses, denial trends, and aging accounts receivable, enabling proactive revenue recovery.
Practice Management (PM) Software
Software designed to handle the day-to-day operations of a medical practice, including scheduling, billing, claims management, and reporting.
The Opexia Approach
Rather than forcing your workflows into generic PM software, Opexia builds fully custom practice management platforms tailored to your specialty, ownership structure, and operational complexity.
ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases)
A medical classification list by the World Health Organization used to code diagnoses, symptoms, and procedures recorded in conjunction with hospital care.
The Opexia Approach
Our custom clinical charting interfaces include intelligent ICD-10 search and validation to ensure claims are coded correctly the first time, reducing denials and compliance risk.
CPT Code (Current Procedural Terminology)
A medical code set maintained by the American Medical Association used to describe medical, surgical, and diagnostic procedures for billing purposes.
The Opexia Approach
We build automated CPT code suggestion engines that analyze clinical notes and recommend the most accurate billing codes based on documented services rendered.
Superbill
A detailed invoice used by healthcare providers that lists all services performed during a patient visit, along with corresponding diagnosis and procedure codes for billing.
The Opexia Approach
Our custom PM systems auto-generate superbills based on clinical notes and procedure logs, streamlining the handoff from clinical care to billing operations.
Payer Portal Scraping
The automated process of using RPA bots to log into insurance company web portals, retrieve claim status updates, and extract EOB data without manual intervention.
The Opexia Approach
Opexia builds resilient computer-vision-powered RPA bots that navigate payer portals even when UI elements change, ensuring uninterrupted automated claim tracking.
Zero Trust Architecture
A security model that requires strict identity verification for every person and device trying to access resources on a private network, regardless of whether they are inside or outside the network perimeter.
The Opexia Approach
All Opexia cloud environments implement Zero Trust principles with VPC isolation, least-privilege IAM roles, and mandatory MFA for any PHI access.
KMS (Key Management Service)
A cloud service that provides centralized control over cryptographic keys used to encrypt data. AWS KMS and GCP Cloud KMS are common implementations.
The Opexia Approach
We encrypt all databases holding PHI using KMS-managed encryption keys with automatic rotation, ensuring compliance with HIPAA encryption-at-rest requirements.
VPC (Virtual Private Cloud)
An isolated virtual network within a public cloud provider that allows you to launch resources in a logically isolated section of the cloud.
The Opexia Approach
Every Opexia-engineered healthcare application runs inside a dedicated VPC with private subnets, network ACLs, and VPC peering for secure EHR integrations.
IAM (Identity and Access Management)
A framework of policies and technologies for ensuring that the right individuals have the appropriate access to technology resources.
The Opexia Approach
We implement least-privilege IAM policies across all cloud resources, ensuring developers cannot access production PHI and automated systems use service-specific roles with minimal permissions.
Terraform / Infrastructure as Code (IaC)
The practice of managing and provisioning cloud infrastructure through machine-readable definition files, rather than manual configuration or interactive tools.
The Opexia Approach
All Opexia cloud architectures are deployed via Terraform, ensuring reproducible, auditable infrastructure that passes SOC 2 and HITRUST certification requirements.
CloudTrail / Audit Logging
Automated logging of all actions taken within a cloud environment, including who accessed what data, when, and from where—critical for HIPAA compliance.
The Opexia Approach
We configure immutable CloudTrail logs with S3 Object Lock and automated anomaly detection to meet HIPAA's audit trail requirements and detect unauthorized PHI access.
Claim Denial
When a health insurance company refuses to pay for a healthcare service, often due to coding errors, missing prior authorization, or eligibility issues.
The Opexia Approach
Our RPA bots automatically track denial reasons, flag patterns, and re-submit corrected claims with supporting documentation, recovering revenue that would otherwise be written off.
Eligibility Verification
The process of confirming a patient's insurance coverage and benefits before rendering services to avoid claim denials and surprise bills.
The Opexia Approach
We build real-time eligibility check integrations with payer APIs and RPA fallbacks, ensuring front-desk staff know coverage details before the patient arrives.