Chapter 7

📖 Summary

Let’s look at our example from the beginning of this article, the patient needing an X-Ray. With HL7® FHIR®1, the steps could be carried out like this:

  1. The physician records the request as a FHIR ServiceRequest in the EHR.
  2. A FHIR RESTful API sends the request to radiology.
  3. Radiology schedules an Appointment and the systems notify the physician and patient.
  4. The completed X-ray is recorded as a Procedure.
  5. The images are stored as an ImagingStudy and the report as a DiagnosticReport.
  6. The report and its referenced images are returned to the physician’s EHR through the API.
  7. The physician reviews the results and decides on the next steps.

Congratulations!

You now have a basic picture of the problem FHIR addresses and the web technologies it commonly uses. Next, learn how focused resources represent and connect the information in this X-ray story. The following unit then explains how profiles, extensions, implementation guides, and exchange approaches adapt that shared base for real projects.

  1. HL7, FHIR and the FHIR [FLAME DESIGN] are the registered trademarks of Health Level Seven International and their use does not constitute endorsement by HL7. ↩︎