HL7 Argonaut Project Takes Major Step Forward for FHIR

Health Level Seven International (HL7), the global authority for interoperability in HIT with members in 55 countries, and the Argonaut Project recently announced the Argonaut Project 2018 projects. These projects continue the Argonaut Project's efforts to simplify and standardize the exchange of health care data using open internet standards and protocols. The Argonaut Project's specification and testing work has already sparked faster adoption of the HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standard in EHR systems, in health exchange networks such as Carequality and CommonWell, and in consumer-facing experiences such as the iPhone Health app. The 2018 projects further expand the Argonaut Project's focus to other key use cases using the HL7 FHIR and OAuth standards. 

The Argonaut Project is a collaboration of vendors and providers to accelerate adoption of HL7 FHIR and OAuth standards by creating road-tested implementation guides accessible to developers seeking to build interoperability capabilities according to modern internet architectures. 

"Interoperability grows when it is simple and addresses real clinical and business needs," says Micky Tripathi, project manager of the Argonaut Project. "Our 2018 projects continue our focus on empowering patients and providers to exchange information important to them using modern internet conventions." 

Each year, the Argonaut Project focuses on selected HL7 FHIR- and OAuth-based use cases of importance to patients, providers, and the health care industry. For 2018, the Argonaut Project will focus on the following three projects:

1. Clinical Notes, which will enable access to a common set of text-based notes and reports from EHR systems to complement the structured data already covered in the previously published Argonaut Data Query Implementation Guide;
2. Bulk Data Access of Clinical Data, which will enable access to structured clinical data (CCDS/USCDI) for a roster of patients to complement the individual patient access already covered in the previously published Argonaut Data Query Implementation Guide; and
3. Simple Assessment Questionnaires, which will enable sharing of an organized set of textual questions and consistent capture and sharing of responses, for example, for an ACO that wants to implement consistent assessments and aggregate responses across disparate EHR systems.

"The Argonaut Project is a remarkable example of how standards developers and implementers can work together to get the most benefit from interoperability standards," says Charles Jaffe, MD, PhD, CEO of HL7 International.

— Source: Health Level Seven International