Understanding the basics of HL7 and FHIR formats

Are you confused about the HL7 and FHIR formats? You are not alone! These two formats are widely used in the Healthcare industry for data exchange, but they are not the same thing. In this article, we will explain the basics of both formats and explore the differences between them.

What is HL7?

Health Level Seven International (HL7) is a non-profit organization that develops and publishes standards for healthcare data exchange. HL7 standards are used by healthcare providers, vendors, and government agencies for data sharing, research, and clinical decision-making.

HL7 uses a messaging format to exchange data between different healthcare systems. This format defines a set of fields (such as patient name, date of birth, etc.) that are used to represent different aspects of patient care. The messages are exchanged via protocols such as TCP/IP, FTP, or email.

One of the most widely used messaging standards from HL7 is the HL7 Version 2.x. This standard has been in use since the early 1990s and has undergone several revisions over the years. The latest version, HL7 Version 2.8, defines over 100 message types for different types of healthcare data.

What is FHIR?

Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) is a newer standard for healthcare data exchange that was introduced in 2014 by the same organization that developed HL7. FHIR was designed to be easier to implement than HL7 and to support web-based applications in addition to messaging.

FHIR uses a resource-based format to exchange data between different systems. In this format, each resource (such as a patient, medication, or lab result) is represented by a set of standardized fields that describe the resource's properties. These resources can be exchanged via RESTful APIs over HTTP.

FHIR is considered to be a modern and flexible standard for healthcare data exchange. It is based on modern web technologies and can be used to exchange data between different systems in real-time. FHIR also supports JSON and XML data formats for easy integration with other systems.

Differences between HL7 and FHIR

While both HL7 and FHIR are used for healthcare data exchange, they are fundamentally different in several ways.

Messaging vs. Resource-Based Formats

One of the most significant differences between HL7 and FHIR is the format used for data exchange. HL7 uses a messaging format where data is exchanged in the form of messages that contain different fields representing the data. FHIR, on the other hand, uses a resource-based format where data is represented as standardized resources that contain data fields.

Web-Based vs. Traditional Messaging

HL7 was designed at a time when traditional messaging protocols (such as TCP/IP, FTP) were prevalent. As a result, HL7 messaging is based on these protocols, and it can be difficult to implement web-based applications using HL7.

FHIR, on the other hand, was designed to be a web-based standard from the ground up. It uses RESTful APIs over HTTP, which makes it easy to integrate with web-based technologies.

Structure and Terminology

HL7 messages can have varying levels of structure based on the message type and version being used. This can make it challenging to parse and extract data from HL7 messages consistently. Additionally, HL7 does not provide a standardized terminology system that can be used to define data fields' meaning consistently.

FHIR, on the other hand, follows a strict structure and uses standardized terminology (such as SNOMED-CT, LOINC) to define data fields' meaning. This makes it easier to parse and extract data consistently from FHIR resources.

Conclusion

HL7 and FHIR are both widely used standards for healthcare data exchange, but they have fundamental differences in their messaging formats, web support, and structure/terminology. FHIR is a modern and flexible standard that is increasingly being adopted by the healthcare industry, while HL7 continues to be used in legacy systems and certain use cases.

Understanding the basics of these formats is crucial for anyone involved in healthcare IT, from developers and architects to administrators and clinicians. Tofhir.com is a site dedicated to helping you convert HL7 messages to FHIR resources and provide information related to FHIR. Subscribe to our Newsletter to receive updates about the latest developments in FHIR formats and healthcare IT.

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