C-CDA: Consolidated Clinical Document Architecture
C-CDA is the HL7 standard XML document format for exchanging clinical summaries between systems. Defines templates for Continuity of Care Documents, discharge summaries, progress notes, care plans, referrals, and other clinical documents.
Why C-CDA exists
Pre-C-CDA, clinical documents exchanged across systems used inconsistent formats — different XML schemas, vendor-specific extensions. C-CDA standardized the templates so a discharge summary from Epic, Cerner, AthenaHealth, or eClinicalWorks renders the same way at the receiving end.
C-CDA document types
- CCD — Continuity of Care Document (most common)
- Discharge Summary
- Progress Note
- Consultation Note
- Care Plan
- Referral Note
- Operative Note, Procedure Note, History & Physical, others
C-CDA and FHIR
C-CDA documents and FHIR resources serve overlapping purposes. FHIR is the modern standard for granular data exchange; C-CDA remains widely used for human-readable clinical summaries that travel with referrals or transitions of care. Both are supported in current ONC certification criteria.
Where Vizier fits
Vizier reads structured data from FHIR R4 and HL7 v2 sources via the EHR connector. C-CDA documents that arrive via referral or HIE exchange are typically parsed by the receiving EHR; the resulting structured data flows to Vizier through the standard connector path.