Creating an FHIR API
With Google Cloud ProviderData interoperability is one of the hardest problems in Healthcare IT. The most popular approach is to exchange HL7v2 messages between systems. These pipe-delimited messages are difficult to read by a human and often need additional customizations between implementations.
The next major paradigm shift is towards FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources), a JSON-based standard that is evolving ahead of the needs of the industry. Cloud vendors like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google are trying to lay their claim to be the one-stop shop for healthcare on the cloud.
This blog is part of a 4 part series diving into an actual use case I recently encountered while working with a client. I had to stand up an FHIR repository/API for 2+ million patients that could be used by hundreds of users every day, as well as countless background processes.
Series
Part One
In this first part, Zach begins by sharing more about the use case, an experience he had recently with his client. He talks about the project's background, including healthcare-specific requirements. He also discusses tech selection between two major offerings, Google and Azure. Zach will walk you through the pros and cons of both and will finish by explaining the decision made for the project.
Part Two
In Part 2, Zach beings walking through the actual implementation. He starts by explaining how to get started. Then, we move into the nitty gritty, covering creating both the BigQuery resources and your FHIR repository resources.
Part Three
Part 3 is a continuation of the implementation. Zach moves ahead full steam. We start with authentication methods. Zach walks you through the process of deciding which route to go. Then, he explains how to populate data into the FHIR repository.
Part Four
In our 4th and final installment, Zach wraps everything up with a nice little bow. First, we finish our implementation by configuring the Pub/Sub subscriber. And, for the sake of full transparency, Zach closes by sharing one limitation.
About the Author
Additional Resources
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