FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) is the modern framework for building healthcare data integrations. Created and managed by the HL7 Organization, FHIR is intended to make data exchange easier between healthcare organizations, particularly between EHR platforms and digital health tech companies. The biggest challenge with FHIR is the variation between implementations and the adoption rate by healthcare organizations. While FHIR implementation guides (FHIR IG) specify how to implement FHIR, they are often treated as suggested guidelines rather than must-follow specifications, and approximately 1/3 of US hospitals support read/write capabilities using FHIR.
At Healthcare Integrations, we’ve spent years developing FHIR APIs and creating integrations to leverage existing FHIR implementations for healthcare data exchange. As the healthcare data exchange continues to modernize, we expect to see more widespread adoption and standardization of FHIR implementations, both with healthcare organizations, and the digital health companies that need to integrate with them. Our FHIR development team is here to guide you through the complexity and nuances of FHIR while increasing your organization’s ability to achieve seamless data exchange.
Why Choose Healthcare Integrations?
Healthcare Integrations has built many FHIR-based integrations to support a wide variety of use cases. Take advantage of our team’s experience and gain additional FHIR development capabilities and resources to elevate your data interoperability potential. We’ll help you overcome challenges in building FHIR APIs and integrations to save you time and resources with our superior FHIR development services.
How Can We Help?
Our experienced FHIR developers are here to help you tackle any FHIR integration project. Schedule a free consultation to see if we are a good fit to help your organization.
Key FHIR Integration Services
Our commonly requested FHIR integration development services include:
Contract FHIR Integration Development Services
Need help with a new FHIR project? Contract with us to build your FHIR implementation. We’ll provide you with the experience and resources to build any FHIR integration.
Managed FHIR Integration Development Services
Need long-term FHIR integration services? We’ll provide all of the resources needed to manage hundreds of FHIR APIs and become an extension of your current integration team. We’ll take the burden of FHIR integrations off of your team’s shoulders, freeing them up to spend time on other important activities.
FHIR Integration Hosting
We’ll host your integrations for you for a low monthly fee. Our hosting service comes with daily backups, 24/7 security, HIPAA compliance, and complimentary FHIR integration monitoring.
FHIR Integration Monitoring
When timely, accurate data exchange is a necessity, we provide 24/7, HIPAA-compliant integration monitoring tools to trigger a rapid responses to errors or unexpected downtime. When something goes wrong, our team is there in minutes, not days.
FHIR Implementation Strategy
Not sure how your organization should approach FHIR integrations? We can help you build an FHIR integration strategy tailored to your use cases, clients, goals, and budget.
FHIR Integration Development Consulting
Have all of the resources you need, but want some expert FHIR integration guidance? Our consultants can answer any questions you may have about FHIR integrations.
Don’t see a service you’re looking for? Schedule a discovery call with us today to see how we can help.
Our FHIR Integration Development Process
Our 4-step FHIR Integration Development process has helped hundreds of clients.
Step 1
Scoping
— Determine the Integration Use Case
— Gather the Specifications for each Entity
— Select the Appropriate Integration Pathway
Step 2
Development
— Establish Connectivity between each Entity
— Build the Data Transformations
— Build the Data Routing Logic
— Perform Internal QA and take Corrective Actions
Step 3
Validation
— Perform External QA and take Corrective Actions
— Get Confirmation from all Entities
— Move Integration to Production and Go-Live
Step 4
Monitoring
— Identify Unexpected Use Cases
— Identify Non-Standard Data Messages
— Take Corrective Actions
Need a FHIR Integration?
Schedule a free 30-minute consultation to see how we can help your organization build your FHIR Integrations.
FHIR Integration Service FAQs
Find answers to commonly asked questions about FHIR Integrations.
What types of FHIR Intgrations can you build?
We can build all kinds of FHIR integrations, with the most common ones being FHIR R4 integrations to support data exchange for patient demographics, patient histories, and clinical notes. We support custom FHIR implementations in addition to standard FHIR implementation guides.
What is the typical timeline for an FHIR integration project?
The timeline to build an FHIR integration depends on the complexity of your use case, which systems are involved, and the specifications for each system. However, most simple to moderate complexity FHIR integrations are completed within 4-6 weeks. We provide detailed timelines after reviewing your FHIR integration needs.
How do you ensure compliance with healthcare regulations like HIPAA?
We adhere to strict security protocols to protect patient data and ensure compliance with HIPAA and other relevant healthcare regulations. Our FHIR integrations prioritize data security, encryption, and privacy at every stage of the integration process.
What data can be shared between healthcare systems using FHIR?
We commonly build integrations that enable the exchange patient demographics, clinical notes, lab results, medication lists, appointment details, and more. The data that can be exchanged between systems is dependent on the capabilities of the systems you want to integrate with.
What standards do you use for FHIR integration?
When we reference FHIR, we typically refer to FHIR R4. We can also support FHIR DSTU2, FHIR STU3, FHIR STU4, FHIR STU5, USCDI V1, USCDI V2, USCDI V3, USCDI V4, and USCDI V5, as well as any other industry standard FHIR implementation guide.
What data formats and connectivity methods do you use to build FHIR Integrations?
FHIR specifies the use of either JSON or XML as the primary data format, and RESTful APIs as the primary connectivity method. We also support usage of the SMART on FHIR stnard for third party authentication. Many EMRs have their own specifications to integrate with their platforms using FHIR, and we are familiar with navigating each systems’ FHIR documentation to achieve integration with them.
How do you handle data mapping and transformation for FHIR integrations?
We build the data mapping and transformation processes inside of the integration engine, also known as the interoperability layer. The Interoperabilty layer sits between your platform, and all of the other systems that you need to integrate with. This interop layer handles all of the data mapping, data transformation, and data routing logic, kept separate from your core platform to ensure maximum compatibility.
Do you provide ongoing support after the FHIR integration is completed?
Yes, we offer post-integration support, monitoring, and maintenance services to ensure that your FHIR integration remains functional, secure, and up-to-date with any changes stemming from the healthcare systems you’re integrating with.
How scalable are your FHIR integration solutions?
Our FHIR integration solutions are designed to be scalable, so they can grow with your business. Whether you are adding new features, integrating with additional healthcare systems, or expanding into new markets, we ensure that your integration framework can handle increased demand.
What challenges might arise when building a FHIR integration, and how do you address them?
Common challenges include differences between integration specifications and production environments, lack of communication or support from external vendors, and varying FHIR implementations between systems. Our team has extensive experience in overcoming these challenges by leveraging our FHIR integration validation process, minimizing the reliance on other vendors, and designing FHIR integrations to be configurable to achieve data exchange with custom FHIR implementations that vary by organization.
How do you ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data being exchanged?
We perform rigorous testing during the development and validation process to ensure that the data is accurate and transferred without errors. We also offer also real-time FHIR integration monitoring to maintain data integrity for the lifetime of the integration.
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