What is FHIR?
The HL7® FHIR® (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) standard is the accepted standard for exchanging healthcare information, regardless of how or where the information is stored. By enabling secure access to both clinical and administrative data, FHIR ensures that healthcare providers can access the information they need to deliver optimal patient care.
Developed by the Health Level Seven® (HL7®) standards organization through a collaborative process, FHIR emerged in 2012 to meet the growing demand for faster, more efficient methods of data exchange in the healthcare industry. As the volume of health data continues to expand, the need for care providers and consumers to share data in real-time, using modern internet technologies, has become paramount.
FHIR leverages widely used internet standards which facilitates the easy sharing of discrete packets of information known as Resources. By building on existing technologies familiar to software developers, FHIR significantly lowers the barriers for new developers to create applications that meet healthcare needs.
With FHIR, the healthcare industry is poised to provide a modern, efficient, and secure way to handle the exchange of clinical data.