HL7 FHIR: The Future of Healthcare Data Exchange

We live in an age where using the internet, mobile devices, and collecting medical data is routine for both – patients and doctors. Analyzing tests and presenting results increasingly rely on these technologies. There is a significant need for solutions that enhance collaboration, reduce errors, and improve the quality of healthcare. This is where HL7 FHIR comes into play, which is a standard that specifies how medical systems communicates with one another. This article aims to explain its importance.

FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) is a contemporary standard developed by the well-known organization HL7 (Health Level Seven International). If you want to find out more, check out our previous blog post: Interoperability Standards in Medical Imaging – DICOM and HL7.

Its primary goal is to enable the seamless exchange of medical data across various systems and devices, irrespective of the provider, data format, or technology used.

FHIR’s goal of facilitating the exchange of medical data is achieved by relying on proven web technologies, such as REST, JSON, XML, or RDF. Many tools make working with these technologies incredibly easy, making implementation intuitive for teams that develop applications that operate on medical data.

What’s more, FHIR is modular – that is, it is made up of “resources”, representing specific information, such as a patient, medical visit, imaging results, medical history or other. This approach is specifically used for medical field.

1. It is interoperable

FHIR solves one of the biggest problems in modern healthcare: the lack of consistency in data transfer between systems. It allows different IT systems – e.g. hospital systems, mobile applications or medical imaging devices – to talk to each other without struggling with integration issues.

2. Allows faster implementations and reduces costs

Those who have had the opportunity to work with old medical data standards know, how many challenges this poses. Often, there is insufficient support and limited tools for data integration or exchange, forcing you to develop solutions on your own. This process can be both time-consuming and demanding. A more consistent standard that incorporates commonly used web technologies, in contrast to older standards like HL7 v2 or CDA, can significantly reduce development time and make system integration easier. This improvement leads to lower costs for medical facilities and enables quicker updates to IT systems.

3. Facilitates integration with mobile applications and cloud solutions

We live in an era of remote healthcare and a wide range of patient applications. Through this, FHIR fits perfectly into the current market needs. Allows the creation of modern, responsive mobile applications that securely connect to hospital systems and provide real-time data.

4. Ensures security and compliance

Patient data requires special care. FHIR supports security protocols such as OAuth2, among others. This helps meet strict requirements for protecting medical data (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA).

There is a reason why FHIR is considered the future of interoperability in healthcare. Already, some applications using this standard are making it easier for patients and doctors to collect medical data, which translates into easier tracking of medical history.

This standard has gained acknowledgment from major global companies such as Google Health, Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare, and Apple Health. These platforms can collect data from our mobile, medical devices and smartwatches. Patients can then choose to share this data with system that the clinicians have access to.

More and more local hospitals or ambulatories are also taking advantage of the goodness of the standard/ Among them is Feedback Medical, our long-standing client Feedback Medical, for whom we have recently introduced integration with FHIR.

• Enhanced medical history collection for patients, making results more accessible and securely stored.
• Adapting to the standards of our current everyday life (mobile applications, cloud solutions).
• Simplified integration with business partners, including laboratories, insurers, e-prescribing systems, and national health organizations.
• Increased ability to swiftly introduce innovative features into applications.
• Improved user experience for both doctors and patients.
• Preparedness for future regulatory and technological changes.

HL7 FHIR is not just another standard – it is a key step towards more accessible, integrated and modern healthcare. In a world where medical data is at the heart of clinical decisions, it provides an opportunity to build applications and systems that truly support clinicians and protect health and patient data.

The web-based technologies that FHIR uses have tremendous support in the form of tools and ready-made solutions. The standard itself also provides such tools, which is a real game-changer in this area.

If your company is in the medical technology field – whether you are developing applications, hospital systems or patient solutions – understanding and implementing FHIR can become crucial business decision.

Want to learn more about FHIR and its applications in medical systems and applications?

Get in touch with our team – we’re happy to answer questions.

Sources:

Official FHIR HL7 standard website [Index – FHIR v5.0.0].