The Standard

In its SDOH Playbook, “US Playbook to Address the Social Determinants of Health,” the White House explained that supporting flexible funding to address social needs, such as those offered through health-related social needs (HRSN) reimbursement programs, improves health outcomes: “Increasing funding flexibility and offering technical assistance that empowers organizations to utilize funding from a variety of sources will better equip them to address unmet social needs.”

The success of these reimbursement programs requires the existence of exchange and data standards that serve the interests of all stakeholders. Payers and community-based organization (CBOs) currently experience complexities and pain points that have presented challenges and made it difficult to meet the HRSN reimbursement programs’ full potential exist as these benefits roll out today.

As momentum has grown among states and payers for the reallocation of healthcare funds to address HRSNs, Gravity Project decided to undertake a discovery effort to understand and define the existing landscape for CBO reimbursement and identify the components of the CBO reimbursement process and where national standards play a role. 

"Unite Us is proud to work with the Gravity Project. Together, we are making it easier for community-based organizations to participate in Medicaid reimbursement programs, expanding the availability of these benefits to more individuals seeking care,” Emily Anders, director of payments strategy for Unite Us, said.

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 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.

HL7 applauds the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) for its April 22, 2024 Common Agreement Version 2.0 release, which announced the requirement for health information networks participating in the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) to support the HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR^®) standard.

April 25 Session Focuses on the Observation Screening Response Profile

Join us on April 25, 2024, at 2:30 – 4 p.m. ET for the next Gravity Project Implementation Affinity Group meeting, which features more real-world implementations and a key to their success: the Observation Screening Response profile.

Bringing Observation Screening Response into Focus for Gravity Implementers

Building upon the implementation approach and presentation by New York State Qualified Entities in February, this month’s Gravity Implementation Affinity Group session focuses on more real-world implementations and a key to their success: the Observation Screening Response profile.

The benefits of using this profile include explicit categorization of question/answer pairs by social determinants of health (SDOH) domains, flagging of positive findings, and using a common language (Gravity standardized terminology) to share and communicate these findings.

This session will highlight Observation Screening Response, including guidance on using key elements (e.g., Observation.category and Observation.interpretation) and using Observation Screening Response to create Observation Groupings.

This quarter has brought with it a lot of excitement for us to dive into the great realm of REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies) automation and its profound impact on our healthcare landscape. Buckle up, because we're about to review a thrilling journey we've been moving down towards greater efficiency, collaboration, and, most importantly, patient care!

Picture this: a world where cumbersome REMS processes are a thing of the past, replaced by seamless automation that not only streamlines workflows but also enhances patient outcomes. I know it sounds farfetched; however, I feel this dream is swiftly becoming a reality!

At the heart of this revolution lies a collective effort to transition from mere discussions to concrete actions. Through initiatives like HL7 CodeX and NCPDP (National Council for Prescription Drug Programs), we're witnessing a relentless commitment to leveraging standardized practices for interoperability and data exchange. I recently had the privilege of participating in the HL7 Connectathon, where the REMS Integration use case showcased the power of community collaboration. And guess what? We're gearing up to ballot the patient enrollment IG in May – talk about momentum!

But our quest doesn't stop there. We're just getting started! Events like the REMS Innovation Consortium (RIC) have served as epicenters of brainstorming, where industry pioneers gather to explore new horizons in patient care. Together, we're shattering the confines of traditional REMS programs and paving the way for groundbreaking innovations.

Communities Advancing FHIR and Healthcare Interoperability Formalize Joint Efforts for the Public Good

HL7 and The Sequoia Project, a non-profit and trusted advocate for nationwide health information technology (health IT) interoperability, are pleased to announce a strategic collaboration to advance global health data interoperability by accelerating the adoption of the HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®) standards in the U.S.

“We are thrilled to announce this alliance with HL7,” said Mariann Yeager, CEO of The Sequoia Project. “We look forward to working with HL7, alongside private and public sector subject matter experts, to advance nationwide FHIR implementation to improve interoperability nationwide.”

 HL7 and The Sequoia Project will work together to accelerate the HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®) standard through coordinating with the work of FHIR at Scale Taskforce HL7 FHIR^® Accelerator (FAST).

Through this strategic relationship, HL7 and The Sequoia Project aim to continue working together in areas of mutual interest, including standards deployment and adoption, alignment between HL7 FHIR Accelerator projects and Sequoia initiatives, and creating a feedback loop to HL7 based on lessons learned from real-world production-level exchange initiatives, education, and testing. 

“At HL7, we are delighted to continue the journey toward meaningful interoperability with The Sequoia Project,” said Charles Jaffe, M.D., Ph.D., HL7 CEO. “Close collaboration is certain speed to market health IT interoperability improvements to reduce the strain on health systems, diminish clinician burden, and improve the lives of our patients.” 

In a recent episode of HIMSSTV, two healthcare interoperability visionaries, Deepak Sadagopan and Duncan Weatherston, took the virtual stage to share their expert insights on the critical FHIR pathway within the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) model. This captivating discussion was led by the co-chairs of the HL7 FHIR at Scale Taskforce (FAST), and it shed light on the transformative potential of FHIR in shaping the future of healthcare data exchange. 

Meet the FAST Community 

Before we dive into the interview, let's take a moment to acquaint ourselves with the remarkable work being done by the FAST community. The HL7 FHIR at Scale Taskforce is a dedicated group committed to identifying scalability challenges and defining solutions to overcome the barriers to broad FHIR adoption. FAST is addressing key areas like Security for Scalable Registration, Authorization, and Authentication and Interoperable Digital Identity and Patient Matching. The FAST community’s list of projects can be found on the FAST Confluence Project Page. An upcoming project on Consent is set to kick off soon, promising exciting prospects for healthcare data sharing. To get involved, reach out to fast@hl7.org.