In data exchange for rehabilitation technologies, HL7/FHIR standards primarily serve what purpose?

• A. They support vendor-specific data formats and locking.
• B. They govern only imaging protocols.
• C. They enable standardized data sharing between devices, EHRs, and tele-rehab systems.
• D. They define branding guidelines for vendors.

Answer: (C)

Interoperability of health data across systems is the main idea here. HL7/FHIR provides a shared data model and standardized APIs so devices, electronic health records, and tele-rehab platforms can exchange information consistently. In rehabilitation technology, this means measurements from sensors or devices (like gait metrics, range-of-motion data, or patient-reported outcomes) can be represented as common FHIR resources (such as Observations, Devices, Patients, and CarePlans) and moved between systems without custom, vendor-specific adapters. This enables real-time data sharing, integrated patient records, and seamless remote monitoring or tele-rehab workflows, which improves care coordination and analytics.

Other options don’t fit because HL7/FHIR is not about vendor-specific data formats and locking, nor is it limited to imaging protocols (that role belongs to standards like DICOM), and it isn’t about branding guidelines.