The Rules Are Changing. We’re Already at the Table.

July 13, 2026July 13, 2026 by Jeff Larson

Author:

Jeff Larson

Prior authorization has frustrated providers, payers, and patients for decades. Phone calls to utilization review departments. Faxed documentation. Multi-day waits while care is on hold. The administrative cost alone runs into the hundreds of billions annually across the healthcare system, and the human cost is harder to quantify but just as real.

Over the last two years, federal regulators have moved decisively to change that. And the standards bodies that underpin how healthcare data actually moves have been working even longer to build the infrastructure those regulations require.

At UHIN, we haven’t been watching this from the outside. We’ve been inside the rooms where implementation gets figured out, and we’ve been there by design.

Here’s what’s shifting, why it matters to you regardless of your role, and what it means to have a partner who was already invested in this work before it became mandatory.

What’s Changing, Rule by Rule

CMS-0057-F: Interoperability and Prior Authorization

Finalized in January 2024, CMS-0057-F is the most significant overhaul of prior authorization workflows in HIPAA history. It requires Medicare Advantage, Medicaid, CHIP, and qualified health plans on the federal exchanges to implement four FHIR-based APIs: Patient Access, Provider Access, Payer-to-Payer, and Prior Authorization. Full API compliance is due January 1, 2027.

Operational requirements came first. As of January 1, 2026, payers are required to issue standard prior authorization decisions within seven calendar days and expedited decisions within 72 hours.¹ Payers also began publicly reporting prior authorization metrics (approval and denial rates, average decision times, appeals outcomes) starting March 31, 2026, covering calendar year 2025.²

On the technical side, the rule centers on HL7 FHIR R4 infrastructure and SMART on FHIR for authentication. The Da Vinci Project’s implementation guides define the workflows those APIs are expected to support. The Coverage Requirements Discovery (CRD), Documentation Templates and Rules (DTR), and Prior Authorization Support (PAS) guides collectively describe how a provider system can determine whether authorization is needed, surface documentation requirements, and submit a request without leaving the clinical workflow.³ These are the standards the industry is actively working to implement, and organizations are at different stages of readiness across all three.

There’s also a meaningful shift in how FHIR and X12 coexist. CMS issued enforcement discretion allowing payers to implement a FHIR-only Prior Authorization API without being required to also use the X12 278 transaction.⁴ For the first time in HIPAA history, FHIR can function as a standalone path rather than a complement to EDI. The 278 remains valid, and many real-world implementations will use a hybrid model where FHIR faces the provider side and X12 handles the back-end translation.

CMS-0053-F: Claims Attachments

Finalized March 24, 2026, CMS-0053-F establishes the first-ever HIPAA-adopted standards for healthcare claims attachments. It goes into effect May 26, 2026, with a compliance deadline of May 26, 2028.⁵

For decades, claims-related clinical documentation (medical records, imaging, lab results, clinical notes, telemedicine visit documentation) has moved via fax, mail, and payer-specific portals. This rule requires payers to support standardized electronic attachment transactions, though payers may continue accepting other forms of submission if they choose to. In practice, many payers today already discourage or decline non-electronic methods, and this rule formalizes the electronic standard they must support. Specifically, it adopts Version 6020 of the X12N 275 for provider-to-payer transmission of supporting documentation and the X12N 277 for payer requests to providers, along with HL7’s Consolidated Clinical Document Architecture (C-CDA) for structuring the clinical content inside those transactions.⁶

One thing to note: CMS did not finalize prior authorization attachment standards in this rule. That question is still open, with HHS continuing to evaluate how FHIR-based workflows, X12, and C-CDA should align. A CMS listening session in December 2025 addressed replacing the X12 278 with HL7 FHIR under the exception process.⁷ Stakeholder input is still actively shaping what comes next.

X12 Version 8060: The Next HIPAA Transaction Standard

Version 5010 has been the HIPAA-mandated X12 standard for administrative transactions since 2012. X12 published its 008060 EDI Standard in January 2025 and completed the full set of 008060 implementation guides for all HIPAA-mandated transactions in September 2025. The updated guides cover claims (837), eligibility (270/271), claim status (276/277), remittance (835), enrollment (834), and premium payment (820).⁸

X12 has formally recommended to the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) that 008060, along with its XML representation, be adopted.⁹ Version 5010 remains the current mandated standard while federal rulemaking proceeds. WEDI, as an official advisor to HHS, has been conducting its own Federal Policy Consultation process to gather industry input on the impacts, costs, and timing of the 8060 transition, with findings submitted to HHS.¹⁰ HHS convened an additional listening session with the Designated Standards Maintenance Organizations (DSMOs) and WEDI on July 1, 2026, specifically to gather perspectives on the proposed 5010-to-8060 transition; that feedback will inform future HIPAA Administrative Simplification rulemaking.¹¹

X12 has also launched a 2026 education series to help implementers understand what’s changing and prepare their systems before any mandate takes effect.¹²

For organizations managing EDI workflows, this transition will eventually touch every major transaction type you process. Now is a reasonable time to start asking questions and building familiarity with what’s different in 8060.

Why Clearinghouses Are Central to Making This Work

It’s tempting to think of prior authorization modernization as a simple point-to-point story: EHR sends a FHIR bundle, payer system responds, authorization decision arrives in minutes. That’s the goal. The path there is more layered.

Most providers don’t have direct FHIR connections to most payers. Many payer systems aren’t yet equipped to receive FHIR-based prior authorization requests natively across their full network. The translation work, routing between networks and managing acknowledgments, is precisely what clearinghouses are built to handle.

The HL7 Da Vinci Prior Authorization Support implementation guide makes this explicit: clearinghouses are one of the designated intermediary roles responsible for ensuring HIPAA transaction compliance while FHIR operates on the provider-facing side.¹³ The X12 handling happens in what the Da Vinci guide calls a “black box,” a service that the submitting system doesn’t need visibility into. That service is often a clearinghouse.

This isn’t a workaround. It’s the intended architecture for how hybrid environments function during the transition from legacy EDI to FHIR-native exchange. Getting the translation layer right, and getting it right across networks rather than just within individual point-to-point connections, is where the real implementation work lives.

Where UHIN Fits In

UHIN isn’t simply tracking these changes and updating our systems to match. We’re actively involved in building the frameworks the industry will follow.

Da Vinci Trebuchet: Clearinghouse-to-Clearinghouse Prior Authorization Pilot

In early 2025, UHIN was selected as a participant in the Da Vinci Trebuchet Clearinghouse-to-Clearinghouse (CH-to-CH) Prior Authorization Pilot, launched by the Cooperative Exchange in collaboration with the HL7 Da Vinci Project. The cohort includes eleven clearinghouses, including Waystar, Optum, Availity, and Veradigm, working to test whether FHIR-based prior authorization transactions can actually be operationalized across clearinghouse networks rather than just within individual point-to-point connections.¹⁴

The pilot is validating hybrid X12 and FHIR translation workflows that reflect how the industry actually operates today. The outcomes include a functional prototype, a clearinghouse implementation playbook, and concrete recommendations for improving the underlying standards including Da Vinci, FAST Implementation Guides, and X12. When those recommendations get made, UHIN will have helped shape them.

Utah Statewide FHIR Interoperability Pilot

UHIN is also a central participant in Utah’s statewide FHIR interoperability effort through the One Utah Health Collaborative, with clinical data exchange and prior authorization as the two primary use cases. UHIN has contributed patient attribution data, connectivity infrastructure, and coordination across payers, providers, and public health stakeholders working toward a shared FHIR-based ecosystem across the state.¹⁵ UHIN’s CTO participated in Civitas’s FHIR Deep Dive Series in early 2025 to share progress on that work with a national audience.

The CHIE on FHIR, Already Live

In late 2024, UHIN launched a modernized Clinical Health Information Exchange (CHIE) portal built on HL7 FHIR, supporting data sharing across 33 of 36 short-term acute care hospitals in Utah. This wasn’t a pilot or a roadmap commitment. It’s in production.¹⁶

Active Standards Participation

UHIN is a recognized Standards Development Organization with ongoing participation in national electronic transaction committees. We attend X12 standing meetings, engage with HL7 workgroups, and track NCVHS recommendations and comment cycles. When CMS convened its December 2025 listening session on the question of replacing the X12 278 with HL7 FHIR, the voices of organizations like ours were part of what informed that conversation.¹⁷

What This Means for Your Organization

For EDI and revenue cycle teams: The 5010-to-8060 transition is not a mandated deadline yet, but the implementation guides are published, X12 is running education sessions now, and rulemaking is in motion. Getting familiar with what’s changing before the deadline appears is time well spent. Start by asking what’s different in 8060 for the specific transaction types you handle most.

For payers: The January 2027 FHIR API compliance deadline is closer than it looks once you account for integration timelines, testing cycles, and the organizational lift of standing up four APIs while also meeting the operational requirements that went live in January 2026. The clearinghouse layer handles the hybrid translation and provider-side connectivity that makes network-wide adoption feasible rather than theoretical.

For providers and revenue cycle leaders: CMS-0053-F requires payers to support standardized electronic claims attachment transactions by May 2028. Many are already moving in that direction now. Understanding what the X12N 275 and 277 transactions require, and how C-CDA structures the clinical content within them, will help you prepare for what your trading partners will eventually expect.

For compliance and technology leadership: The convergence of CMS-0057-F, CMS-0053-F, and the 8060 transition represents the most significant wave of HIPAA administrative simplification updates in over a decade. These rules interact with each other. The FHIR enforcement discretion for the 278 directly shapes how prior authorization attachment standards will eventually be decided, which CMS explicitly left unresolved pending further industry evaluation. Understanding how the pieces connect is as important as understanding each piece on its own.

Already Here Before the Mandate

UHIN has been at this for more than thirty years. We process hundreds of millions of transactions a year. We operate the nation’s only nonprofit clearinghouse network. We run Utah’s state-designated Health Information Exchange. And we sit at the table where standards get written, not just where they get implemented.

The regulatory changes coming into effect over the next two years reflect years of industry collaboration, standards development work, and pilot programs that UHIN has actively contributed to. We aren’t scrambling to catch up with what compliance requires. We’re already working on what comes after that.

If you want to talk through where your organization stands on any of this, we’re here for that conversation.

References

CMS. CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule (CMS-0057-F) Fact Sheet. January 2024. cms.gov
CMS. CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule (CMS-0057-F). January 17, 2024. cms.gov
HL7 Da Vinci Project. Da Vinci Prior Authorization Support (PAS) FHIR IG v2.1.0. hl7.org
CMS National Standards Group. HIPAA Transaction Enforcement Discretion. February 28, 2024. cms.gov
AAPC. CMS Final Rule Standardizes Electronic Healthcare Data Exchange. March 31, 2026. aapc.com
CMS. Administrative Simplification; Adoption of Standards for Health Care Claims Attachments Transactions and Electronic Signatures Final Rule (CMS-0053-F) Fact Sheet. March 2026. cms.gov
CMS. Events and Latest News: Administrative Simplification. December 2025 Listening Session. cms.gov
X12. X12 Publishes 008060 Versions of All HIPAA-Mandated Implementation Guides. September 2025. x12.org
X12. X12 HIPAA Recommendation Letter. December 2025. x12.org
WEDI. WEDI’s Federal Policy Consultation Process and X12 Version 008060. March 2026. wedi.org
CMS. Events and Latest News: Administrative Simplification. July 1, 2026 Listening Session. cms.gov
X12. Announcing the Kick-off of X12’s 008060 Education/Information Series. March 2026. x12.org
HL7 Da Vinci Project. Da Vinci Prior Authorization Support (PAS) FHIR IG: Use Cases and Overview. hl7.org
UHIN. Newsletter: January 2025 Issue. February 2025. uhin.org
One Utah Health Collaborative. Advancing Interoperability in Healthcare: Utah’s Collaborative Approach. 2025. uthealthcollaborative.org
UHIN. 2024 Year-End Recap. 2025. uhin.org
CMS. Events and Latest News: Administrative Simplification. December 2025 Listening Session. cms.gov

Building on What Works to Connect Rural Utah

May 27, 2026May 28, 2026 by Ryan McLelland

Author:

Ryan McLelland

Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Advancing healthcare interoperability is not just about adopting the latest technology. It is about building sustainable systems that serve everyone, especially the communities that have their own unique needs and healthcare dynamics.

UHIN leadership recently returned from the Civitas Networks for Health Annual Fly-In in Washington, D.C., where 20+ leaders from health information exchanges, health data utilities, and regional health improvement collaboratives spent the week in 47 meetings on Capitol Hill. As Utah’s state-designated, nonprofit Health Information Exchange, UHIN was at the center of those conversations. The message Civitas members carried into every office was consistent: locally governed, community-led organizations are the implementation layer that turns federal policy into real-world results.

That message landed at exactly the right moment. The Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP), a $50 billion, five-year federal investment created by H.R. 1 (the One Big Beautiful Bill Act), is moving from announcement to execution. Utah received $195.7 million in first-year funding, with up to $500 million expected over the life of the program. How states deploy those dollars between now and 2030 will shape rural healthcare for a generation.

Here is what stood out from our time on the Hill, and what it means for Utah.

1. Rural Providers Need to Be at the Center

The ongoing debate over the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP) funding centers on a critical question: who is best equipped to help alleviate the struggles of medicine?

While the $50 billion investment has drawn a surge of venture-backed firms, there is growing concern that these entities prioritize a five-year revenue “exit” over the generational stabilization required to fix medical deserts and workforce shortages.

The Civitas perspective argues that the most effective stewards of this capital are the local, mission-driven organizations already embedded in these communities. The rationale for prioritizing nonprofit HIEs, local providers, and public health agencies is rooted in the specific challenges they are uniquely qualified to address:

Why Local Stewardship Matters for Rural Challenges:

With 50% of rural hospitals operating at a loss, venture-backed models often cherry-pick profitable services. Local providers, however, focus on maintaining “unprofitable” but essential lifelines like maternity care, preventing the expansion of maternity deserts.
Private firms often rely on temporary “locum tenens” or remote-only solutions. In contrast, local agencies invest in the “grow your own” strategy, which is 5.4 times more likely to result in long-term physician retention in areas where 70% of the population faces primary care shortages.
Technology-only solutions from external contractors often fail because they ignore the low health literacy and poor broadband infrastructure prevalent in rural zones. Local HIEs and public health offices have the “boots on the ground” track record necessary to help an aging population navigate these digital hurdles.

2. Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

A consistent thread across every conversation: state and federal dollars have already built much of the interoperability infrastructure RHTP now depends on. Health Information Exchanges, Health Data Utilities, All-Payer Claims Databases, and Quality Improvement Organizations are the connective tissue of community health data. They are already in place, they are governed by the people they serve, and they have decades of investment behind them.

The temptation with $50 billion of new federal money is to spin up something new and shiny. That impulse carries a real cost. Every dollar spent rebuilding what already works is a dollar not spent improving care in rural communities. Civitas members made the case repeatedly: the smart move is to strengthen and extend infrastructure that has been earned and tested over years, not to start over from zero.

This is the work UHIN has been doing in Utah for 30 years. The CHIE already moves clinical data securely across providers, payers, and public health partners. Our recently modernized, FHIR-aligned platform is ready to scale to meet the use cases RHTP is asking states to solve.

3. The Reality of RHTP, Honestly

There was real candor in these meetings about how the program came to be. RHTP was created by the same legislation that carried significant Medicaid changes. Several Civitas members and Congressional staff spoke about deep regret tied to those cuts. To be clear, many in the room do not view RHTP as a win. They view it as the reality we now have to work with, and they were honest that the program, on its own, will not offset what rural hospitals stand to lose when the funding window closes in 2030.

That said, this is the world we are operating in. RHTP is the tool in front of us, and Utah received $195.7 million in first-year funding to put it to work. The question is not whether to engage. It is whether we engage thoughtfully enough that, five years from now, rural Utah is in a stronger position than it is today, not facing a steeper cliff.

That requires honesty about the math. It also requires the kind of long-game thinking that nonprofit, community-governed organizations are built for.

4. Sustainability Is the Whole Game

If there was one word that came up in nearly every meeting, on both sides of the aisle, it was sustainability.

Some rural organizations cannot even absorb the funding being offered. They do not have the bandwidth, the technical staff, or the procurement infrastructure to take a fire hose of federal dollars in a 12-month window and turn it into durable change. That is not a failure on their part. It is a structural reality of rural health that this program has to plan around.

The harder problem is what happens in 2030. Programs stood up on five years of grant money have a way of collapsing the moment the money stops. The work that will outlast RHTP is the work that fits inside infrastructure that was already going to be here, supported by sustainable funding models, governed by people accountable to the communities they serve.

What This Means for Utah

UHIN exists for a simple reason: Interoperability for all. Better costs. Better care. That mission predates RHTP, and it will outlast it.

With 25 of Utah’s 29 counties designated rural, and many rural Utahns traveling more than an hour for hospital care and four to six hours one way to see a specialist, the case for a connected, statewide data foundation is hard to argue against. Rural providers need clinical, claims, and public health information harmonized in a way that is computable, real-time, and actually useful at the point of care. That is the foundation that makes everything else possible, from analytics and clinical decision support to the AI applications coming next.

UHIN has spent three decades building toward that picture. We operate a FHIR-aligned, statewide exchange. We coordinate data every day across hospitals, EHR vendors, payers, and public health agencies. We know rural Utah, because we have been showing up there for a long time.

If RHTP is going to deliver what rural Utah needs, the infrastructure to do it does not need to be invented. It needs to be invested in.

Get Involved

If your organization serves rural Utah and you want to talk about how the CHIE can support RHTP-related initiatives, or about what a sustainable, trusted, connected data foundation looks like in practice, reach out to us here. We are ready to roll up our sleeves.

References

Borders, T. F., Youngen, K., & Cecil, J. (2026). The social determinants of health—Rurality and pregnancy. PMC – NIH. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13095225/ Cited by: 5

CDC. (2026). Geographic and sociodemographic patterns in prevalence of diagnosed diabetes, US, 2021–2024. Preventing Chronic Disease. https://www.cdc.gov/PCD/issues/2026/25_0288.htm

Frontiers. (2026). Digital twin virtual hospitals and rural health disparities: a six-country comparative study (2018–2024). Frontiers in Public Health, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1741438

Orimaye, S. O. (2026). Roadblocks to rural health: State transportation policies’ impact on health care access in Virginia’s rural communities. American Journal of Public Health, 116(2), 175–179. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2025.308285

Youngen, K., Cecil, J., & Borders, T. F. (2026). How 2026–2030 digital health policies impact access & patient engagement. Rural & Underserved Health Research Center Publications. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3008&context=research_symp

Newsletter: June 2024 Issue

July 3, 2024November 4, 2024 by UHIN

JUNE 2024

What’s Hot in HIT

As the mercury soars this summer, we’re turning our attention to the burning issues in Health Information Technology (HIT). We’re delving into the latest developments in Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR), the blazing necessity of cybersecurity, updates on the Change Healthcare breach, and upcoming events and webinars.

Follow us on LinkedIn for weekly posts and updates!

Spotlight

Unlocking the Potential of FHIR

HL7® FHIR® (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) represents a paradigm shift in healthcare data exchange. In our most recent blog post, Ryan McLelland (Chief Technology Officer at UHIN) provides a thought-provoking look at the benefits of FHIR, the myths around it, and a strategic approach to implementing this powerful catalyst for innovation in healthcare.

Discover FHIR

HIT News

Staying Safe

Maintaining a strong security posture is critical for protecting personal health information (PHI) and other data. Good practices include establishing interoperability, resiliency and redundancy across your network. As ransomware attacks continue to climb in the US, you need to cover your network to make sure you don’t get burned.

We continue to monitor and share updates about the Change Healthcare (CHC) breach on our News & Updates page. You can also sign up to receive Status updates via email, Slack, text, and other preferred methods whenever UHIN creates, updates or resolves an incident, including information about the CHC breach.

Subscribe to Updates

HIT News

Update on CHC Breach

We recently shared an update on our ongoing efforts to minimize disruption caused by the cybersecurity event at Change Healthcare (CHC), with a specific focus on Electronic Remittance Advice (ERA) delivery (835 files).

Read the Update

Events

Coming Up in July and Beyond

July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. We’ll share info, inspiration, and resources for mental health on our social media.

We will be closed for Independence Day on Thursday, July 4, 2024.

Upcoming Conferences:September 13: Utah Medical Association (UMA) annual House of Delegates in Midvale, UT

October 15-17: Civitas Annual Conference in Detroit, MI

Trainings and Webinars

Upcoming Online Trainings and Webinars

In July, we’re starting our virtual Payer Panel series where you can ask questions and get answers from health plan representatives.

Later this year, we’ll host training sessions on the new CHIE platform, specifically for portal users.

Wrapping Up

Get Your Claims Flowing

We continue to support Providers affected by the CHC breach by working with payers to expedite Provider enrollment. Once enrolled, Providers can use our solutions to create and send professional and institutional claims via SFTP, file tool or online hand-entry, check claims status, manage denials and rejections, and search, view, and download payment information. Click below to learn more and get your claims flowing again!

Get Started

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Unlocking the Potential of FHIR: An Overview of its Impact and Future

June 26, 2024August 1, 2024 by Ryan McLelland

Author:

Ryan McLelland

Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

As the CTO of UHIN, I’ve seen firsthand the challenges and frustrations of trying to achieve seamless interoperability. Data silos, incompatible formats, and outdated standards have long hindered our ability to share information effectively. But HL7® FHIR® (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) offers a glimmer of hope, a path toward a more connected and efficient healthcare ecosystem.

Understanding FHIR: A Paradigm Shift

FHIR represents a paradigm shift in healthcare data exchange. Unlike older standards like HL7 v2, which often resemble complex, rigid blueprints, FHIR is akin to a set of modular building blocks. These blocks, called “resources,” represent discrete units of healthcare information – a patient record, a medication order, a lab result, and so on.

The true power of FHIR lies in its flexibility. Resources can be combined and exchanged in various ways to suit specific needs. Need to share a patient’s medication history with a specialist? FHIR allows you to do that without sending the entire medical record. Want to integrate a new mobile app with your EHR system? FHIR’s web-friendly technologies make it easier than ever.

Dispelling the Myths: FHIR is NOT a Panacea

While FHIR offers immense potential, it’s important to be realistic about its limitations. It’s not a magic wand that will instantly solve all our interoperability woes.

First and foremost, FHIR is a standard, not a solution. It provides a common language for exchanging healthcare data, but it doesn’t address the underlying technical and organizational challenges that often impede interoperability.

Second, FHIR is not a plug-and-play technology. Implementing it requires careful planning, technical expertise, and collaboration among stakeholders. Organizations with legacy systems may face particularly daunting challenges.

Finally, FHIR doesn’t guarantee interoperability. While it facilitates the exchange of data, it doesn’t ensure that the data will be understood and used consistently across different systems. Achieving true interoperability requires not just technical compatibility but also semantic interoperability – the ability to interpret and apply data in a meaningful way.

The Benefits of FHIR: A Catalyst for Innovation

Despite its limitations, FHIR offers significant advantages over older standards. Its flexibility, ease of use, and strong community support make it a powerful catalyst for innovation.

By adopting FHIR, healthcare organizations can:

Improve data sharing: FHIR enables more granular and tailored data exchange, making it easier to share information with the right people at the right time.
Accelerate development: FHIR’s web-friendly technologies lower the barrier to entry for developers, potentially leading to faster innovation.

For example, UHIN’s Clinical Health Information Exchange (the CHIE) is currently migrating to a new FHIR-enabled platform. Built on a highly scalable architecture, the platform allows for more efficient and secure sharing of data across enterprises.

The Road Ahead: A Strategic Approach to FHIR Adoption

To reap the full benefits of FHIR, healthcare organizations need to adopt a strategic approach. This involves:

Developing a clear roadmap: Start by defining your interoperability goals and identifying specific use cases where FHIR can add value. Transitioning totally functional workflows from older specifications to FHIR, just for the sake of using a more modern data structure, won’t create new healthcare outcomes on its own. We need to use FHIR when it’s appropriate and when it will provide the most advantage to our interoperability goals.
Building a strong foundation: Invest in the necessary infrastructure, tools, and expertise to support FHIR implementation.
Collaborating with stakeholders: Engage with vendors, partners, and other stakeholders to ensure that FHIR implementations are aligned and interoperable.
Focusing on education and training: Ensure that your team has the knowledge and skills to work with FHIR effectively. While the FHIR structure can lead to an easier onboarding of software engineers, it also increases the complexity of a given use case by having multiple resources required to accomplish the same goal that a single CCDA may have solved previously. HL7 International offers online courses covering the fundamentals (for a price) and educational videos on its YouTube page here.
Embracing a culture of innovation: Foster a willingness to experiment and adapt as FHIR evolves. Many early adopters of FHIR were burned by the rapid change that occurred from version to version of FHIR. Knowing that there will be maturation of the standard is important to understand before starting an implementation.

Conclusion: The Future of Healthcare Data Exchange is FHIR

FHIR is not a silver bullet, but it is a significant step forward in our quest for interoperability. By embracing FHIR and addressing the challenges it presents, we can unlock a wealth of opportunities to improve healthcare delivery, enhance patient outcomes, and drive innovation.

The future of healthcare data exchange is FHIR. Let’s seize this opportunity to build a more connected and efficient healthcare ecosystem.