The concept of FHIR is to standardize the sync and exchange of healthcare data for suppliers, and providers who can seamlessly access patient data no matter which system they use. With FHIR in place, each resource is linked to a unique identifier that makes access to data across applications and devices smooth.
FHIR creates standard URLs which do away with the need to share individual documents and hence expedites the process while maintaining data accuracy and security.
Some of the benefits of Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) are:
Focus on patient experience: Easy to implement and integrate across all devices and applications – FHIR aims to empower the patient. When data is shared with patients, they are in better control to manage and track their records which establishes their trust in the healthcare services and providers.
Automated Data structuring: It provides clinical support to providers and professionals in care services. The data sharing between providers and patients creates a value-based model wherein the emphasis is on care management, patient experience, and better coordination, and of course reduction in costs.
Improved clinical treatment: With access to EMR and patient-related data, clinical researchers can provide better care thereby improving the patient experience. This patient information is highly valuable for research and analysis in the healthcare industry. What makes FHIR stand out from the rest of the data sharing standards is its implementation with REST web services. REST can be easily implemented with open-source technologies bringing the implementation costs down.
Enhanced data management: FHIR maintains data accuracy by fetching real-time records. Be it claims data, vital records, surveys, or wearables, data is driven in different formats and is accessed from multiple sources with different scales and volumes.
USCDI stands for U.S. Core Data for Interoperability. USCDI represents a set of core clinical data classes and elements critical for healthcare interoperability. To learn more please visit the Health IT website for a list of data elements and data classes included in the version 1 (V1) standard.
What is SMART on FHIR? SMART is an open-source, standards-based API that leverages the OAuth 2.0 standard to provide secure, universal access to EHRs. The SMART platform builds on the existing Fast Health Interoperability Resources (hence the name "SMART on FHIR"). FHIR servers are key tools for interoperability of health data. The FHIR service is designed as an API and service that you can create, deploy, and begin using quickly.
FHIR defines the structure of where data should live and how it should look. The EHRs are responsible for filling that structure with actual patient data. SMART defines how third-party apps launch within an EHR, how to determine which EHR user is interacting with the app, and what patient's data is being accessed.
FHIR builds on previous standards, including HL7 V2, HL7 V3, and CDA (Clinical Document Architecture—part of HL7 V3). But unlike those other standards, FHIR employs RESTful web services and open web technologies, including not only XML (used by previous standards) but also JSON and RDF data formats.
DSTU2, STU3 and the newest FHIR® standard release, R4 are all extremely relevant today. The three versions of FHIR® are important to understand, specifically that any service utilizing FHIR® should support all three standards. DSTU2, which stands for Second Draft Standard for Trial Use, was released October 24, 2015, with various updates from DSTU1, encompassing addition and removal of elements, updates to code elements, status, and many more. STU3, which means Release 3 Standard for Trial Use, was released February 21, 2017, was a full FHIR® release encompassing over 2,400 changes. Examples updates include version management consolidation, improvements to resource definitions, technical changes to RESTful APIs, and many more. \n R4, Release 4, was released December 27, 2018, and is the new release that is composed of mixed resources that are normative and STU. R4 has normative content, meaning that some resources will not change and be flexible in the same way that they are in all the previous releases. This is massive news because adoption of R4 would create a true standard and another important step towards true interoperability. Examples of what was added as part of FHIR® R4 are new elements like age, address, annotation, dosage, money, booleans, and more; further expanding the amount of data you can query.
InteliChart on FHIR v1.0
The following links contain both required and optional parameters with their data types as defined by HealthIT.gov USCDI VS1:
Vocabulary Code Set Terminology Standards and Implementation Specifications
C-CDA is a markup standard that creates large bundles of patient data. FHIR includes additional API elements that allow for unbundling of patient data.
The use of InteliChart FHIR V1.0 is a subscription-based vendor-neutral service to exchange health records. Terms and conditions are subject to change at the discretion of InteliChart LLC.
Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) is a popular, flexible markup standard developed by Health Level 7 International (HL7) that defines the structure of certain medical records, such as discharge summaries and progress notes, to better exchange this information between providers and patients.
Applications can use the resources defined by FHIR by storing them natively in a database or persistent store, where different applications or modules write and read the resources as part of their implementation.