#FHIR at #HIMSS14

Feb 28, 2014

I have just returned from an exhausting 3 days at HIMSS in Orlando. For general news, see HISTalk for Feb 24, 25, and 26, or Inga for Feb 24, 25, 26. FHIR got quite an airing at HIMSS. Stand out items:

In addition to this, many people me that FHIR was a regular point of discussion with EHR/EMR/PHR/etc vendors across the exhibition floor. And it wasn’t just standards geeks telling me that either.

Breakfast Event

I thought the breakfast event went well. Chuck J ran a tight ship and I thought it was definitely worth attending for delegates who chose to - and registration rapidly filled up, so many people weren’t able to attend (though I did think we could have squeezed many more in).

In terms of subjects, we focused in issues around FHIR - why it exists, and where it is likely to go, rather than what it is. The other panelists - John Halamka (starring as a particularly snazzy suit), Doug Fridsma, Dave McCallie, and Wes Rishel (I was in exalted company) spoke generously about FHIR, and it’s future, though Wes did point out that FHIR is at the peak of the Gartner Hype Cycle. While I did wonder how Wes knows that the hype has peaked - I’m not convinced it has, yet - I also wondered how to ensure that the fall from the peak is lesser rather than greater (more on that later).

We had good questions from the floor, and some of them will generate follow-up blog posts. Also, I’ll announce here if the video of the event is publicly released.

The most Common Question

The most common question I got from vendors was about the relationship between FHIR and CCDA. CCDA is something the vendors have to do, but it isn’t exactly a hit, and they’re searching for a simpler way to implement. This is the message I had for the US EHR vendors:

  • CCDA is mandated by Meaningful Use
  • FHIR is a new specification
  • FHIR is not a replacement for CCDA (yet)
  • This year, FHIR and Structured Documents HL7 committees have a project to migrate CCDA content to FHIR, but this hasn’t started yet
  • In the future, FHIR may gradually replace CCDA, but this will take time, and depend on whether FHIR lives up to the hype