This document provides an overview of HL7 FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources). FHIR is a next generation standards framework that defines modular "Resources" like Patient and Encounter data that can be stored or exchanged. Resources have unique IDs and can reference each other to build a network. FHIR supports XML and JSON formats and defines RESTful APIs for searching, creating, updating, deleting and reading resources. It standardizes application design by using FHIR resources as the internal data model and API without data transformation. The document encourages downloading open source FHIR projects and learning from FHIR standards to simplify implementation and interoperability compared to older HL7 standards.

1. YOUR APPLICATIONS
Victor CHAI
HL7 Singapore

2. Set the context …
• Do we copy and paste the external content into our site page, or
we simply use URL link to reference the external content when we
build a web site?
• What’re the benefits?
– Prevent information proliferation, and avoid obsolete information
– There is no need to fetch all at one go, the requester can ‘follow’ the
path to navigate to the needed information, reduce the network
traffic and payload size
– Each app can focus on managing its own information, and relies on
reference to build up network of information

3. What is FHIR
• FHIR® – Fast Health Interoperable Resources
(hl7.org/fhir) – is a next generation standards
framework created by HL7
• FHIR solutions are built from a set of modular
components called “Resources”

4. FHIR Overview
• “Resource “ is unit of transactional data such
as patient or encounter data that is stored or
exchanged
• Easily accessible
– http://server.org/resources/Patient/AA1234567
endpoint
resource type
Logical ID

5. HL7 FHIR - A network of
resources
Encounter
(Resource)
Patient
(Reference)
Hospitalization
Practitioner
(Reference)
Location
(Reference)
Location
(Reference)
Participant
Location

6. Encounter Resource Definition

7. HL7 FHIR wire format
• Supports both XML and JSON
• A Human-readable wire format for ease of use by developers
• Out of box extension support

8. How easy it is to implement
FHIR

9. How is FHIR different from
HL7v2 and HL7 CDA
• Combines best features of HL7v2 and HL7CDA
– Simple to implement, easy to extend
• Defines application services syntax
– Besides payload, it also defines API for
search/create/update/delete/read resources
• Use “Profile” to create and manage data dictionary and
Conformance toolkit
– After you have implemented FHIR, you also achieved the objective of
creating data dictionary
– “Profile” resource is also used for runtime structure and value set
validation as part of the conformance toolkit

10. HL7 FHIR RESTful API

11. API Services - Search

12. Search Parameters
Search parameters for Encounter resource

13. HTTP Response Status Code

14. Resource Profile – Data Element
and Code Set definition

15. Resource Profile – Search
parameters

16. FHIR standardises and simplifies
application design
• Use HL7 FHIR as straight-
through resource API and
internal object model
• There is no intermediate
transformation

17. FHIR in Action

18. Setting up hl7-fhir project

19. Summary
• If you are keen, download the following
FHIR open source project
– http://sourceforge.net/projects/hl7-fhir/
– I am recruiting volunteer
• Learn from standards, adopt and adapt
instead of re-invent
– http://www.hl7.org/fhir

20. THANK YOU