This is from the December 14, 2016 Chilmark Research webinar The Emerging Role of Open APIs in Healthcare see: http://www.chilmarkresearch.com/2016/11/29/can-apis-really-improve-hit/
A critical element of business success across industries has been the surge in use of open application programming interfaces (API) that provide data for applications that did not create or originate the data. APIs are the technical foundation of engaging interfaces and high-value interactions between different applications.