The eXtensible Markup Language, known simply as XML, is a language developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for interchange of information over the Internet. XML mixes ordinary text with special "tags" that instruct the processor how to display XML-based documents. In this respect, XML is similar to Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) which is most prevalent on the web today. However, XML differs from HTML in that it provides a more well-developed set of tags and even allows for development of new tags for specialized processes.

What is the major advantage of XML?
XML changes the way information is published on the Internet. The major advantage to using XML is that it eliminates the need to use import and export filters for all of the different interchange formats. With XML, interchange of data between applications is greatly simplified with XML often serving as the sole platform necessary for data exchange. The inability to efficiently effect the interchange of data between different operating systems and different databases has long been the bane of other document formatting languages. XML allows for the creation of documents that can be downloaded and processed easily and quickly, without the delay associated with filter applications.

How does eServices Group use XML?
As an Internet technology company, eServices Group understands the usefulness and power of XML. All of eServices Group's healthcare electronic commerce systems are developed with interoperability and speed of data interchange in mind. By using XML as a tool to produce Internet-ready document formats, we are able to deliver healthcare data over the Internet (or intranet) in a much more organized and efficient fashion. This simplifies the flow of healthcare information for our clients and allows them to provide better healthcare systems to their consumers.