The Standard

A report from the HL7 Da Vinci Project describes how two pioneering organizations demonstrated the real-world practicality and value of applying standard application program interfaces (APIs) to streamline the prior authorization process.

Regence, a payer based in the Pacific Northwest, and MultiCare Health System, a provider based in Washington state, spent about a year testing and fine-tuning processes that leverage HL7’s Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR^®) standard for APIs.

In addition, dozens of other organizations have tested FHIR APIs at more than 15 Connectathon testing events.

As healthcare's digital transformation accelerates and data fluidity improves, the need to ensure patients maintain control over their health data becomes more urgent. While better interoperability brings many benefits, it also raises significant challenges around consent. The key question is: how do we efficiently manage patient consent to ensure privacy preferences are respected at scale, across multiple organizations and systems? 

The FHIR at Scale Taskforce (FAST), is focused on identifying scalability gaps, defining solutions to address current barriers, and identifying needed infrastructure for scalable HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®) solutions so taking on consent as a use case was a natural evolution. 

The upcoming FAST Focus Webinar on November 7, 2024, will delve into this critical topic, offering stakeholders valuable insights into the FAST Consent team's efforts to develop a standardized framework for consent management. The webinar will provide an update on their progress, highlighting the collaborative work that has shaped the project’s evolution, as well as specific use cases that are central to its scope. 

"Our response to interoperability isn’t just about managing data—it’s about building the future of healthcare through open standards." - Dan Vreeman, DPT, Chief Standards Development Officer, HL7 International

Last week at Civitas 2024 in Detroit, HL7 International/s Chief Standards Development Officer,Dan Vreeman, DPT, led an insightful panel session on how HL7® Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®) is revolutionizing interoperability. As data sharing becomes increasingly critical, HL7 is at the forefront, driving collaboration with over 45 organizations and developing 35-45 new FHIR implementation guides annually! Dan was joined by leaders from the Da Vinci Project, FAST, Gravity Project, and Helios, to discuss their HL7 FHIR Accelerator projects, including objectives and progress made to date in advancing open data standards development and interoperability.

An Overview, Demo and Benefits of Da Vinci-related Test Kits on Wednesday, October 23

Are you implementing Health Level Seven (HL7®) Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®) APIs and looking for testing resources? Find out about the Inferno Health API Testing Framework at this month’s October HL7 Da Vinci Project Community Roundtable.

This month’s session, Exploring Inferno: An Overview, Demo and Benefits of Da Vinci-related Test Kits, is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 23, from 4 – 5:30 PM EDT and features presenters from the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy (ASTP) / Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and MITRE. Presenters will introduce the Inferno Framework and voluntary test kits, which may be used as testing tools to further advance implementation guide development and testing of industry implementations.

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.

The FHIR at Scale Taskforce (FAST) community has been at the forefront of shaping the future of healthcare interoperability. By working closely with the FHIR community and other FHIR Accelerators, FAST is building the framework for a robust FHIR infrastructure that supports the scalability of FHIR solutions across the healthcare ecosystem. Today, we are excited to announce an important leadership transition as we continue this vital work.

A New Opportunity for Dana Marcelonis

Dana Marcelonis, who has been a cornerstone of FAST as our Program Manager, will be transitioning to a new role at Point-of-Care Partners, where she will provide program support for the Coalition for Health AI (CHAI) project. Dana’s expertise, dedication, and leadership have been instrumental in guiding FAST’s efforts, and her impact on our work cannot be overstated. While Dana managed both roles admirably, the increasing demands of these projects have made it necessary to have a dedicated resource for each. Dana will continue to support Janice and the team through November to ensure a smooth transition.

August 28 Webinar Features Recent Updates Direct from Federal Officials

Are you looking for guidance and insight as you plan for 2025? If so, plan to attend this month’s Health Level Seven (HL7^®) Da Vinci Project Community Roundtable, which features special guests from the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy (ASTP) office, formerly known as the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). ASTP presenters will highlight why the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement^TM (TEFCA^TM) is important and share recent updates to the program, including implementation, long term plans, education and outreach, and building trust.

In ASTP’s second segment, testing and adoption efforts will be discussed, covering TEFCA’s HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR^®) Roadmap, and ASTP’s new TEFCA Payer/Provider 10x10 Coalition. ASTP will provide an overview of the 10x10 and discuss why providers and payers should participate. They will also discuss resources available and the interplay of the 10x10 with Da Vinci.  

The session concludes with the Da Vinci PMO sharing themes and perspectives from its membership on the Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Patient Engagement, Information Sharing, and Public Health Interoperability (HTI-2) proposed rule.

The Vulcan FHIR® Accelerator, in coordination with the US Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/ Office of the National Coordinator (ASTP/ONC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), invites you to an informational webinar for the Vulcan Interoperability Bridge (VIB) event.

The VIB event aims to accelerate the adoption of healthcare data standards for research – underscoring the value of using HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®) to solve existing challenges and explore novel opportunities in research data interoperability.

The August 21 webinar is designed to share information on how we will convene clinical research sponsors, including pharmaceutical companies and academic medical centers, EHR providers, clinical research sites, and technology solutions providers to work together to demonstrate how clinical care and research interoperability is achievable utilizing existing HL7 FHIR® standards and implementation guides.

If you can’t think of a reason to pay attention to FAST's work, we have a couple for you! Recent requirements related to TEFCA (Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement) and the latest HTI-2 proposed rule have named the FAST Security Implementation Guide (IG). This recognition underscores the importance and foundational nature of FAST's contributions to healthcare interoperability. 

On July 1st, the Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE) released the Facilitated FHIR Implementation Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), outlining the requirements for using FHIR within the TEFCA framework. Notably, these requirements include adopting the FAST HL7 UDAP Security for Scalable Registration, Authentication, and Authorization FHIR Implementation Guide (SSRAA) by January 1, 2026. This timeline allows organizations to implement FAST Security while still using SMART or other security options in the interim. 

Specifically, the SOP states: 

Prior to January 1, 2026: 

• All FHIR Adopters MAY follow the requirements of HL7 SSRAA FHIR IG 1.0.0 STU 1 US Section 3 Registration. 

• Manual registration requests for client_id MUST be resolved within 5 business days where sufficient information has been provided. Information requirements MUST NOT exceed those in Section 3 of HL7 SSRAA FHIR IG and this SOP. 

• All FHIR adopters MUST use one of the following: 
  • HL7 SSRAA FHIR IG 1.0.0 – STU 1 US Sections 4 and 5; 
  • SMART Release 1.0.0; or 
  • Another authentication and authorization framework that adheres to the QTF requirements is based on out-of-band agreements between exchange partners.