THE RESEARCH PROJECT
FHIR is a standard describing data formats and elements for exchanging electronic health records.
While working for RGSoC (Ruby Girls Summer of Code) with HospitalRun, We researched about the various innovative systems and technologies used in healthcare.
FHIR stands for Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources, which is a standard describing data formats and elements and an application programming interface for exchanging electronic health records. The standard was created by the Health Level Seven International health-care standards organization.
We came across various standards such as HL7, FHIR and systems such as PACS. Let us throw light upon these systems which have proved to be boons in the field of healthcare. If everything including our finances are handled accurately, guardedly and efficiently by our computers, then why not healthcare?
PACS
PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) is a healthcare technology for the short- and long-term storage, retrieval, management, distribution and presentation of medical images.
The concept of PACS was initiated in 1982 during the SPIE medical imaging conference in New Port Beach, CA. Since then PACS has been matured to become an everyday clinical tool for image archiving, communication, display, and review. Since then there is a continuous development of PACS technology including Web-based PACS, PACS and ePR (electronic patient record), enterprise PACS to ePR with image distribution (ID).
A PACS allows a healthcare organization (such as a hospital) to capture, store, view and share all types of images internally and externally. When deploying a PACS, the organization needs to consider the environment in which it will be used (inpatient, ambulatory, emergency, specialties) and the other electronic systems with which it will integrate.
WHY PACS?
Installing a PACS is a massive undertaking for any radiology department. Facilities making a successful transition to digital systems are finding that a PACS manager helps guide the way and offers a heightened return on the investment. The PACS manager fills a pivotal role in a multiyear, phased PACS installation. PACS managers navigate a facility through the complex sea of issues surrounding a PACS installation by coordinating the efforts of the vendor, radiology staff, hospital administration, and the information technology group. They are involved in the process from the purchase decision through the design and implementation phases.
They can help administrators justify a PACS, purchase and shape the request for proposal (RFP) process before a vendor is even chosen. Once a supplier has been selected, the PACS manager works closely with the vendor and facility staff to determine the best equipment configuration for his or her facility, and makes certain that all deadlines are met during the planning and installation phase. The PACS manager also ensures that the infrastructure and backbone of the facility are ready for installation of the equipment.
HL7
HL7(Health Level Seven) is a set of flexible standards,guidelines and methodologies through which various healthcare systems can communicate and share information among each other. These set of rules that allow information to be shared and processed in a uniform and consistent manner. These data standards are meant to allow healthcare organizations to easily share clinical information.
WHY HL7?
The HL7 interface improves work flow by allowing medical professionals to focus on their core business activities and provide quality healthcare. Instead of having to write specifications from scratch each time data needs to be sent between two systems, we can make reference to a uniform document whose definitions assist in providing a common understanding to both systems.
By using a HL7 interface engine, health providers can realize the benefits of existing information systems without major reinvestment in new technologies, lowering costs and extending the life and efficiencies of current systems. There is also opportunity to link to systems outside the healthcare provider such as providers of outsourced services like radiology and transcription.
FHIR
FHIR seems to be a small word but it literally means world in which everyone can securely access and use the right health data even in other hospitals that means the patient neednt go through the same tests again and again when he/she needs to
switch hospitals based on the facilities that they provide. This significantly reduces the costs and leads to economical use of paper. That means different hospitals having their individual servers can access the data globally and with safety.
WHY FHIR?
It allows faster development, easier implementation, free specification,adaptation for local requirements, strong foundation in Web Standards, support for Restful Architectures and Also Seamless Exchange of Information using Messages or Documents, concise and easy specifications and lots more.
We are looking forward to implement this tech in HospitalRun .soon.
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