A recent Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) article focused on the future of Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR). FHIR is a standard describing data formats and elements and an application programming interface for exchanging electronic health records. The standard was created by the Health Level Seven International health-care standards organization (HL7).

Healthcare professionals want to know when will their Electronic Health Records (EHR) system be FHIR-enabled; when will they be able to use it for interoperability and for payment systems and prior authorization; and how can they map earlier versions to later versions of FHIR.

FHIR is ready for use for exchange of medical record information, such as medications and laboratory results, called the U.S. Core Data for Interoperability. The application programming interface FHIR Application Programming Interface (API) is available for most major EHR systems today for patient access to data, such as through the Apple Health Record, which is based on Argonaut Project FHIR specifications.

It’s not currently being used for providers to exchange information though. And, as a new standard, it’s not yet ready for exchanging more specialized information such as if an oncologist wants specific information on a gene or biomarker.

An estimated 85% of hospitals have FHIR in their systems according to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). FHIR is evolving, through an incremental process, each year. HL7 FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) continues the strong trajectory of adoption, spurred further by the ONC and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services writing FHIR into its forthcoming interoperability rules.

The healthcare industry is finally focused on achieving interoperability with patients’ medical records. This has the potential of improving the quality of patient care and increasing efficiency of the work process.