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:

X-Ray Comic 2

Figure illustrating usage of HL7 FHIR in a situation when a patient in a hospital shall receive an X-ray. 1. Request Documentation: The physician enters the X-ray request\ninto an EHR system using a HL7 FHIR ServiceRequest resource, including\npatient details and clinical notes. 2. Information Delivery: The request is automatically sent to the radiology department via a HL7 FHIR RESTful API, which retrieves and\nprocesses the ServiceRequest. 3. Scheduling: The radiology department schedules the procedure\nusing a HL7 FHIR Appointment resource and updates the system, notifying the\nphysician and patient. 4. Procedure Execution: The patient undergoes the X-ray, and the\nprocedure details are recorded in the system using a HL7 FHIR Procedure resource. 5. Results Preparation: The X-ray images are stored as ImagingStudy resources, and the report is generated as a DiagnosticReport resource. 6. Results Delivery: The HL7 FHIR RESTful API automatically sends the DiagnosticReport and associated ImagingStudy resources back to the\nphysician’s EHR. 7. Review and Decision: The physician reviews the results through\nthe EHR, which uses HL7 FHIR resources to present the data, and determines the next steps for patient care.\u200b Figure illustrating usage of HL7 FHIR in a situation when a patient in a hospital shall receive an X-ray. 1. Request Documentation: The physician enters the X-ray request\ninto an EHR system using a HL7 FHIR ServiceRequest resource, including\npatient details and clinical notes. 2. Information Delivery: The request is automatically sent to the radiology department via a HL7 FHIR RESTful API, which retrieves and\nprocesses the ServiceRequest. 3. Scheduling: The radiology department schedules the procedure\nusing a HL7 FHIR Appointment resource and updates the system, notifying the\nphysician and patient. 4. Procedure Execution: The patient undergoes the X-ray, and the\nprocedure details are recorded in the system using a HL7 FHIR Procedure resource. 5. Results Preparation: The X-ray images are stored as ImagingStudy resources, and the report is generated as a DiagnosticReport resource. 6. Results Delivery: The HL7 FHIR RESTful API automatically sends the DiagnosticReport and associated ImagingStudy resources back to the\nphysician’s EHR. 7. Review and Decision: The physician reviews the results through\nthe EHR, which uses HL7 FHIR resources to present the data, and determines the next steps for patient care.\u200b

Congratulations!

Now you have a basic understanding of what HL7® FHIR®1 is and how it works. In the next Section, you will learn about some more about the fundamental principles that HL7® FHIR®1 is built on. These include concepts like Resources, interoperability, the 80% rule, Profiling and Extensions. Having an idea about what these buzzwords mean will immensely help you in your further study of HL7® FHIR®1.

  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. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎