Clinical Informatics and FHIR®
Clinical Informatics
The ODSS Clinical Informatics (CI) unit develops and supports methodology and ethical practices that enable interoperability of datasets, including the exchange of clinical and healthcare information for research purposes. Specifically, the unit encourages the development and use of clinical data standards such as the Health Level Seven International (HL7®) Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®) and common data elements (CDEs) through collaboration with NIH institutes, centers and offices. Some of these activities include:
- Building research capacity for NIH staff and extramural communities to leverage data standards such as FHIR
- Promoting the use and implementation of clinical data standards to capture, integrate, and exchange clinical data, e.g. common data models
- Facilitating the sharing and reuse of clinical and social determinants of health (SDoH) data using CDEs
- Providing clinical informatics trainings and resources for the research community
NIH Supporting the
Use of FHIR
NIH encourages biomedical investigators to use the FHIR standard to access electronic health records for research purposes, with proper safeguards for privacy and confidentiality. Learn about relevant NIH supported extramural projects on NIH RePORTER.
Researcher Resources
To facilitate the awareness and adoption of FHIR as a standard for healthcare information exchange, ODSS has supported the development of the following resources for investigators transitioning to this next generation health data standard.
FHIR Training Resources
ODSS has held a series of trainings to aid the introduction of FHIR to the community. These introductory webinars and workshops provide participants with an overview of relevant technologies, key concepts, and potential uses of FHIR applications.
Common Data Elements and Social Determinants of Health
Learn how common data elements enhance the ability to efficiently share and reuse data generated from research, and how they can be used to address social determinants of health.
Related Activities
Learn about activities related to health data interoperability and adoption of the FHIR standard:
- NIH issued NOT-OD-20-146 to encourage the use of USCDI data classes, elements, and vocabulary standards with FHIR
- The United States Core Data for Interoperability (USCDI) defines common data elements and classes to facilitate healthcare information exchange
- The US Core Implementation Guide specifies how FHIR should be applied in clinical settings, enabling nationwide interoperability
- NIH issued NOT-OD-19-122 to encourage NIH-funded investigators to explore the use of FHIR
This page last reviewed on May 3, 2023