FHIR® Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Developed by Health Level Seven® International (commonly known as HL7), FHIR® (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) is an interoperability specification for the electronic exchange of healthcare information. The HL7® FHIR® standard is rising to the top of healthcare IT priorities because it delivers fast and efficient health data and defines how healthcare information can be exchanged between different computer systems regardless of how it is stored in those systems
AEGIS.net, Inc. (AEGIS) is a premier provider of interoperability validation tools and subject matter expertise on healthcare standards. Our powerful testing platforms continuously validate and report progress throughout the development of healthcare applications. We provide validated assurance for healthcare providers and patients around the globe. A process-driven organization, AEGIS offers professional consulting services to federal agencies, standards bodies, and commercial clients.
As valued experts within health IT testing and certification for more than 20+ years, Drummond and AEGIS are prepared to fill the interoperability gap and extend a certification service to the payer community founded on integrity and experience. This service will guarantee payer system implementations of patient access APIs remain compliant with the CMS Interoperability and Patient Access final rule, as well as instill confidence in the ability to securely share data with patients.
As an advanced FHIR® Testing public open-access, cloud-based platform for software developers, Touchstone brings a ready-made development environment that may be shared with others in your organization. It provides the opportunity to test the capabilities and interoperability between FHIR® Server and Client implementations and leverage the power of an advanced reference implementation, WildFHIR®. This integrated test script editor allows developers to create and deploy custom test scripts to meet current compliance requirements with the FHIR® standard.
AEGIS’ Touchstone is an easy-to-use platform designed to develop and deploy the most interoperable and secure healthcare applications. And, the HL7® FHIR® standard is rising to the top of healthcare technology priorities because it delivers fast and efficient health data. As an Authorized Certification Body (ACB) and an Accredited Test Lab (ATL) within the Office of the National Coordinator Health IT Certification Program, Drummond specializes in working with healthcare information technology (Health IT) developers to test and/or certify their Health IT software for use by healthcare providers in regulatory programs. Products tested and/or certified by Drummond can be used by eligible clinicians/providers and hospitals as part of their criteria for qualifying for the CMS incentive payments.
The Drummond-AEGIS FHIR® Testing and Certification program – featuring the Drummond Certified™ Powered by Touchstone certification(s) – provides:
- A testing platform to validate conformance with the FHIR® standard and required use cases
- An experienced test lab to facilitate streamlined and consistent testing
- A certification seal and publicly available list distinguishing those that have successfully achieved certification, providing greater assurance to the market
- A mechanism for ongoing, in-the-field surveillance of conformance to complement regulatory enforcement
- A predictable renewal cycle to ensure updates to the standard are implemented by certified Payers and Systems
Yes. It will replace this tool in terms of offering a platform that tests for additional use cases beyond 21st Century Cures certification for 170.315(g)(10) Standardized API for patient and population services.
The SMART (Substitutable Medical Apps & Reusable Technology) platform defines a specification for an electronic health record (EHR) to safely and securely open other applications with context. These SMART applications are commonly web applications, but also may be native mobile applications and will use the FHIR® standard to read and write data from the EHR. Stay tuned for updates on whether Drummond and AEGIS will explore this in the future.
To register with Drummond and begin the process of exploring FHIR® certification, as well as discover more about the Drummond-AEGIS program, please email FHIR@drummondgroup.com.
In addition to the CMS Interoperability and Patient Access final rule, there is an Interoperability and Patient Access fact sheet that provides detailed and helpful guidance. And, here are some valuable links to referenced specifications:
- Health Level Seven® (HL7) Version 4.0.1 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®) Specificatifreadon Release 4
- SMART Application Launch Framework Implementation Guide Release 1.0.0
- OpenID Connect Core 1.0 Incorporating Errata Set 1
- United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI) Version 1 (v1)
- CARIN Alliance Blue Button® Framework and Common Payer Consumer Data Set (CPCDS) IG
- ONC 21st Century Cures Act final rule
- HL7® Da Vinci Project
HL7® and FHIR® are the registered trademarks of Health Level Seven International and their use of these trademarks does not constitute an endorsement by HL7.
At Drummond Group it’s our mission to support and promote the adoption of interoperability and security standards that help drive digital transformation and improve outcomes.