How Mirth Connect Supports the Latest Health Data Standard FHIR

• 13 July, 2023

With the progression of healthcare technology, the demand for a consistent method to share data has grown significantly. To address this requirement, the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standard was created. FHIR is an open-source standard that enables the electronic exchange of healthcare information. Its design emphasizes adaptability, expandability, and straightforward implementation. Mirth Connect, a widely-used integration engine in the healthcare sector, fully embraces the FHIR standard. In this article, we will delve into how Mirth Interface Engine facilitates FHIR and the advantages of utilizing FHIR for healthcare data exchange.

What is FHIR?

FHIR, which stands for Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources, is a standardized method of electronically exchanging healthcare data. It was created by Health Level Seven International (HL7), an organization specializing in healthcare data exchange standards. FHIR is designed to be adaptable, extensible, and simple to implement.

FHIR utilizes modern web technologies, including RESTful APIs and JSON, to provide convenient access to healthcare data. The foundation of FHIR is built upon resources, which serve as the fundamental components of the standard. These resources represent specific types of healthcare information, such as patients, diagnoses, medications, and allergies. Through the combination and extension of these resources, more intricate healthcare information can be represented.

RELATED: FHIR Implementation for Interoperability Success in Healthcare

Key Benefits of Using FHIR

1. Faster Development and Integration

   FHIR's modern approach and use of widely adopted web technologies accelerate the development and integration process. Developers can leverage existing tools, frameworks, and libraries to quickly build FHIR-enabled applications, reducing development time and costs.

2. Support for Emerging Technologies

   FHIR is designed to support emerging technologies in healthcare, such as mobile applications, wearables, and telehealth. Its flexible and modular architecture allows for seamless integration with these technologies, enabling the exchange of data from various sources and devices.

3. Enhanced Data Access and Patient Engagement

   FHIR's use of RESTful APIs enables easier and more secure access to healthcare data. This facilitates patient engagement initiatives by allowing individuals to access and manage their health information through patient portals or mobile applications. It empowers patients to take an active role in their healthcare decisions and promotes personalized care.

4. Standardized Clinical Decision Support

   FHIR supports the exchange of clinical decision support (CDS) resources, enabling the integration of evidence-based guidelines and best practices into healthcare systems. This promotes consistent and standardized decision-making, improving patient safety and quality of care.

5. Streamlined Interoperability Testing

   FHIR provides comprehensive testing tools and resources to validate the interoperability of systems implementing the standard. This streamlines the testing process and helps ensure seamless data exchange between different healthcare systems and organizations.

6. Regulatory Compliance

   FHIR aligns with regulatory requirements, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It offers mechanisms to ensure data privacy, security, and consent management, helping healthcare organizations meet their compliance obligations.

7. Flexibility and Extensibility

   FHIR is designed to be flexible and extensible, allowing healthcare organizations to customize and adapt it to their specific needs. It provides a wide range of predefined resources that can be easily extended to accommodate additional data elements or specific use cases.

8. Easy Implementation

   FHIR leverages modern web technologies, such as RESTful APIs and JSON, which are widely adopted and familiar to developers. This makes it easier and faster to implement FHIR-based solutions compared to traditional healthcare standards.

9. Patient-Centric Approach

   FHIR puts a strong emphasis on patient-centric data exchange. It allows for the seamless exchange of patient health records, including clinical data, medications, allergies, and more, across different healthcare systems and providers. This enhances the continuity of care and improves patient outcomes.

10. Scalability

    FHIR is scalable and can accommodate large volumes of healthcare data. It supports incremental data exchange, allowing systems to exchange only the necessary information, reducing bandwidth and processing requirements.

Mirth Connect and FHIR

Mirth Connect is a widely used integration engine in the healthcare industry, facilitating the exchange of data among various healthcare applications and systems. It has full support for the FHIR standard, enabling the seamless exchange of FHIR resources. Mirth Connect incorporates a dedicated FHIR Connector, which serves as a convenient means of exchanging FHIR resources with other healthcare systems.

Using Mirth Engine’s FHIR Connector, users can easily create and transmit FHIR resources to other systems. These resources can be generated within Mirth's graphical interface or imported from external systems. Once created, the FHIR resources can be transformed and mapped to different formats as required.

Moreover, Mirth's FHIR Connector leverages FHIR RESTful APIs, enabling effortless access to healthcare data through contemporary web technologies. This enhances the accessibility and flexibility of healthcare data exchange.

Additionally, Mirth's FHIR Connector extends its support to FHIR Subscriptions. These subscriptions allow for real-time notifications of changes in healthcare data. This feature proves particularly valuable in applications like patient monitoring or clinical decision support. Mirth’s FHIR Subscriptions enable users to subscribe to specific FHIR resources and receive timely notifications whenever those resources are updated.

In summary, Mirth Connect, a prominent integration engine in healthcare, provides robust support for the FHIR standard through its dedicated FHIR Connector. This connector empowers users to create, exchange, transform, and map FHIR resources, while also offering support for FHIR RESTful APIs and real-time notifications through FHIR Subscriptions.

Using Mirth Connect with FHIR

Using MirthConnect with FHIR is relatively easy.

1. First, users need to install the FHIR Connector in MirthConnect
2. Once installed, users can create FHIR resources using MirthConnect’s graphical interface or by importing FHIR resources from other systems
3. Once created, FHIR resources can be transformed and mapped to other formats as needed
4. MirthConnect’s FHIR Connector also supports FHIR RESTful APIs, which enables easy access to healthcare data using modern web technologies
5. Finally, MirthConnect’s FHIR Subscriptions allow users to subscribe to specific FHIR resources and receive notifications when those resources are updated.

Best Practices for Using Mirth Connect with FHIR

Mirth Interface engine is a powerful tool for exchanging healthcare data, and its support for FHIR makes it an ideal choice for healthcare organizations looking to adopt the latest healthcare data exchange standards. Here are some best practices for using Mirth Connect with FHIR:

Keep Abreast of FHIR Updates: Regularly stay informed about the latest releases and updates of FHIR, a dynamic standard. By keeping up with the newest versions, you ensure that your Mirth Connect implementation remains current and takes advantage of the latest features and functionalities introduced by FHIR.

Plan Your FHIR Implementation: Thoroughly strategize your FHIR integration within the Mirth Connect environment. This entails identifying the specific FHIR resources to be utilized, determining the systems for data exchange, and considering any necessary customizations or extensions required for your implementation.

Utilize FHIR Profiles: Leverage FHIR profiles to define customized subsets of FHIR resources that cater to your specific use cases. By employing FHIR profiles, you ensure consistent and structured data exchange that aligns with the requirements of your particular use case.

Perform Rigorous Testing: Prior to deploying your FHIR implementation in a live environment, conduct thorough testing in a development or testing setting. This process helps identify and rectify any potential issues or errors that may arise during the implementation, ensuring that your FHIR integration functions correctly.

Consider FHIR Servers: Explore the use of FHIR servers, which serve as centralized repositories for FHIR resources. Mirth supports FHIR servers and can be configured to utilize them as sources or destinations for healthcare data, simplifying the management and exchange of data within your system.

Utilize Mirth's In-Built FHIR Features: Leverage the robust FHIR capabilities provided by Mirth such as the FHIR Connector and FHIR Subscriptions. These features offer a flexible and powerful means of exchanging healthcare data using the FHIR standard. Make full use of these capabilities to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of your implementation.

Provide Adequate Staff Training: To ensure a successful implementation and maximize the benefits of FHIR and Mirth Connect, it is essential to provide comprehensive training to your staff. Equip them with the necessary knowledge and skills in FHIR and Mirth, enabling them to stay updated with the latest healthcare data exchange standards and best practices. This empowers your organization to make the most of FHIR and Mirth's advantages.

Utilize FHIR Libraries: Simplify FHIR resource handling in Mirth by leveraging established FHIR libraries like HAPI-FHIR. These libraries provide APIs and tools for parsing, validating, converting, and interacting with FHIR messages and resources.

Documentation: Create comprehensive documentation for Mirth channels to aid team members in learning, maintenance, and knowledge sharing. Well-documented workflows will enhance understanding, collaboration, and effective utilization of Mirth Connect.

How KPi-Tech Can Help to Implement Mirth for Better Interoperability

As a healthcare interoperability company, there are several Mirth integration services you can offer to facilitate data exchange and interoperability within the healthcare ecosystem. Mirth is a popular open-source integration engine used for healthcare data integration. Here are some Mirth integration services commonly offered:

• Interface Development

  Design, develop and implement interfaces using Mirth Interface engine to connect various healthcare systems and applications. This includes HL7 messaging, FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) integration, and other healthcare data standards.

• Data Mapping and Transformation

  Assist in mapping data from different source systems to target systems, ensuring seamless data exchange. Mirth Engine provides a graphical interface for configuring data transformations and applying business rules.

• System Integration

  Integrate disparate healthcare systems, such as EHRs (Electronic Health Records), HIS (Hospital Information Systems), RIS (Radiology Information Systems), LIS (Laboratory Information Systems), and more, using Mirth.

• Message Routing and Filtering

  Configure Mirth to route and filter messages based on predefined rules, ensuring that the right data reaches the intended destinations securely and efficiently.

• Data Transformation and Normalization

  Utilize Mirth's capabilities to transform and normalize data formats, such as converting HL7 v2 messages to FHIR resources or vice versa. This ensures data consistency and compatibility between different systems.

• Alerting and Monitoring

  Set up alerting and monitoring systems within Mirth to proactively identify and address integration issues. This helps in ensuring data integrity, system availability, and timely notifications of any failures or delays in data exchange.

• Security and Compliance

  Our Interoperability and compliance services cover your patients’ health data with maximum security, privacy, and confidentiality. We update ourselves with the latest versions like HL7 Version 2, Version 3, FHIR API, SMART on FHIR, CDA, X12, and security standards.

• Testing and Validation

  Perform testing and validation of Mirth interfaces to ensure that data is accurately transmitted, transformed, and received between different systems. This includes unit testing, integration testing, and end-to-end testing.

• Maintenance and Support

  Provide ongoing maintenance and support services for Mirth integration solutions, including monitoring, troubleshooting, bug fixing, and system upgrades.

• Training and Education

  Offer training and education programs to healthcare organizations and IT teams on Mirth Connect, empowering them to build, manage, and maintain their own interfaces efficiently.

KPi-Tech offers you the smartest and safest interoperability services across healthcare platforms. Our cloud management & operations, highly scalable features, secure cloud, system patching, and version upgrade will take you on the top run. We offer all kinds of integration services across various health systems and platforms like Mirth Interface Engine along with unique customization and 24/7 support.