HL7® International Assumes Responsibility for Development of FHIR Shorthand Tools from MITRE

Health Level Seven International (HL7^®), the leading global standards-development organization dedicated to improving how healthcare information is shared, is excited to announce it has assumed stewardship of the open source FHIR^® Shorthand (FSH) tools from MITRE. This strategic transition will ensure the long-term sustainability and growth of these essential tools, which simplify and speed up the creation of HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR^®) implementation guides that define how healthcare data should be structured and shared between systems to ensure smooth and accurate data exchange.

HL7 FHIR Shorthand (FSH) is a streamlined, text-based tool that enables healthcare IT stakeholders to create implementation guides, or "blueprints," for sharing critical health information such as patient records, lab results, treatments across different systems, and much more. Developed by MITRE in 2020, the FSH standard has quickly become an essential tool in hundreds of healthcare projects worldwide, helping to simplify the process of developing systems that support better coordination and improved patient outcomes.

 After five years of funding and developing FSH, MITRE partnered with HL7 to transition the ongoing development and support of these tools to an HL7-stewarded program. There are several reasons for this decision:

1. HL7’s focus on standards: HL7’s mission is dedicated to developing and maintaining standards like HL7 FHIR, which are crucial for health data interoperability. FSH is directly aligned with HL7’s expertise in creating tools that facilitate the seamless exchange of health information. By transitioning FSH to HL7, MITRE ensures that these tools remain under the stewardship of an organization whose core focus is on building and enhancing health data standards.
   
   
2. Sustainability and global reach: As a globally recognized organization with affiliates in over 30 countries, HL7 has the resources, community support, and infrastructure needed to ensure the long-term sustainability of FSH. HL7’s widespread implementation in healthcare systems and engagement with international stakeholders will enable FSH to expand its impact.
   
   
3. Community engagement and open-source development: HL7 fosters a strong, collaborative community around FHIR and other standards. The open-source nature of FSH means that continued contributions and improvements from the HL7 community are vital. HL7’s established governance model and active community ensure that FSH will receive ongoing feedback and development from healthcare professionals, developers, implementers, and researchers.
   
   
4. Alignment with FHIR: FHIR Shorthand is a specialized tool for building FHIR implementation guides, so it makes sense for FSH to be under HL7’s leadership, as HL7 is responsible for developing and maintaining the FHIR standard itself. This alignment will streamline the development of new tools and use cases for FHIR, helping advance interoperability in the healthcare industry.

“MITRE has done incredible work in developing HL7 FHIR Shorthand, and we’re honored to assume stewardship of this community good,” said Daniel Vreeman, PT, DPT, MS, FACMI, FIASHI, FHL7, chief standards development officer at HL7 International. “The rapid adoption of FSH across the healthcare industry is a testament to its value in simplifying how we create data-sharing frameworks with FHIR. This transition marks an exciting new chapter for FSH. Under HL7’s leadership, we will expand the impact of these tools, driving innovation, improving the efficiency of healthcare data exchange, and ultimately enhancing the quality of care that patients receive around the world.”

This transition effort included activities such as:

• Establishing a governance model to foster a fair and productive open-source community.
• Developing community-facing resources, such as contribution guidelines and best practices.
• Leading a series of knowledge sharing sessions aimed at future FSH tool contributors.
• Officially transitioning ownership and copyright of key open-source FSH tools to HL7.

 “We are proud of the work we’ve done to create HL7 FHIR Shorthand which was originally developed to support our minimal Common Oncology Data Elements (mCODE) project. We’re excited to see it move to HL7, where it will benefit from the HL7 community’s deep expertise in healthcare standards,” said Dr. Jay Schnitzer, senior vice president, chief medical officer, MITRE. “We look forward to FSH tools continuing to support the healthcare community and playing a pivotal role in driving faster, more efficient data sharing across the industry. This transition ensures that FSH will contribute to improving patient care, streamlining workflows, and accelerating innovations that benefit providers, payers and patients.”

The HL7 FHIR Shorthand tools community kickoff meeting was held on September 12, 2024, launching the official start of the new FHIR Shorthand tools governance model under the stewardship of HL7.

 Invitation to Participate

HL7 invites all community members to participate in the future of FHIR Shorthand. Community members’ contributions and engagement are crucial to the continued success and evolution of these tools. Interested community members are encouraged to review the HL7 FHIR Shorthand specification, visit FSH School, and engage with the community in the #shorthand channel at chat.fhir.org.