📖 FHIR is a standard
FHIR is a standard.
FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) is a healthcare standard.
A standard is a set of guidelines or specifications designed for a particular field or industry. The goal of a standard is to ensure information consistency and compatibility between different healthcare systems and applications.
Everyday examples for standards are:
the ISO codes for currencies like U.S. Dollar (USD), Euro (EUR), Japanese Yen (JPY).
Standard Time zones (UTC - Coordinated Universal Time)
standardized closing sizes (XS, S, L, M, XL, XXL).
Using a standard means to follow a common framework to achieve predictable and reliable outcomes: Standardized clothing sizes help consumers find the right fit across different brands. ISO codes for currencies ensure consistency and accuracy in international financial transactions. Finally, standard time zones based on Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) synchronize clocks and schedules worldwide, which is essential for smooth global communication and travel.
FHIR standardizes healthcare data formats to ensure seamless and accurate information exchange between different systems.
With FHIR, accessing a patient record ensures that the data is consistent and reliable. When you send data to another healthcare provider using FHIR, you can trust that they will receive the same information, with no alterations or loss.
FHIR meets several typical key criteria for standards in the IT context:
- 1. Consensus based development
- 2. Technical specifications
- 3. Seamless data exchange
- 4. Flexibility and Scalability
- 5. Quality and Compliance
1. Consensus based development
FHIR is developed by HL7 (Health level 7 International: https://www.hl7.org/ ), a global authority on standards for electronic health data. The development process involves collaboration between a wide range of stakeholders, including healthcare providers, technology vendors and regulators.
A key role in this process is played HL7 Work groups (https://www.hl7.org/Special/committees/, https://hl7.org/fhir/resourcelist.html ), where experts from different areas come together and discuss, develop and refine aspects of FHIR that are relevant to their field of expertise. For example, the Patient care work group (https://www.hl7.org/Special/committees/patientcare/index.cfm ) is responsible for FHIR resources like AllergyIntolerance, Condition, CarePlan.
2. Technical specifications
FHIR provides a comprehensive set of technical specifications that describe how information can be exchanged between different systems. These specifications are all documented on the FHIR website.
3. Seamless data exchange
The ultimate goal of FHIR is to provide standardized formats and rules for data exchange such that on its way from one system to another, the health care data integrity is preserved and the information can easily be read by the recipient.
This is realized by providing a common framework and language for exchanging data. FHIR ensures that information can be shared across diverse platforms and applications like electronic healthcare records, devices, and hospital IT systems. This is realized by two core features:
Common standardized format: The structure and content of a given concept is defined in dedicated resources in a specified format.
Formalized rules on how to exchange information, for example via a Restful API.
4. Flexibility and Scalability
FHIR is designed to be adaptable and scalable. It supports a wide range of use cases, from simple data sharing to complex, large-scale integration projects. Scalability is particularly crucial for healthcare organizations, as it ensures that as their needs and operations expand, FHIR can continue to facilitate efficient and secure data exchange. Whether a small clinic or a large hospital network, FHIR’s scalability allows these institutions to maintain seamless interoperability as they grow, integrate new systems, and handle increasing volumes of patient data.
5. Quality and Compliance
FHIR includes guidelines and rules that ensure the quality, accuracy, and security of exchanging medical information. It helps organizations comply with regulatory requirements for data exchange and privacy, such as HIPAA1 in the USA.