Article contents
Five common fracture points
Identity
The same person, case, study, or request is represented differently across systems.
Context
A destination receives data without the reason, policy, or history needed to use it.
State
One system cannot see whether another step is pending, rejected, or complete.
Authority
A technical connection exists, but the workflow lacks a clear permission or approval boundary.
Recovery
Failures enter a generic queue without an owner, evidence, or safe resume point.
Map the boundary, not only the application
- 01Name the business event
- 02Identify the record of truth
- 03List every handoff
- 04Define the state transferred
- 05Assign the next owner
- 06Describe failure and recovery
- 07Specify retained evidence
Interoperability helps, but does not replace operations
Standards such as FHIR can improve structured exchange for supported use cases. They do not, by themselves, define every operational decision, browser interaction, document step, or human approval around the exchange.
A durable workflow design treats APIs, browser interfaces, documents, and people as parts of one controlled operating path.
Sources
Authoritative references
Rules, standards, and guidance can change. The links below were reviewed on September 21, 2026.