New 'SQL on FHIR' Standard Simplifies Health Data Analytics Using FHIR
SQL on FHIR makes health data analytics easier - Pulse+IT
A new academic paper was published detailing the use of SQL on FHIR for creating tabular views of health data.
Summary
John Grimes of CSIRO and others developed a new open-source health data standard called 'SQL on FHIR.' This standard aims to make it easier for analysts to analyze large volumes of structured FHIR data using existing skills and tools.
Details
While FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) has become essential for connecting digital health systems, its complexity limited its use for analytics. To address this, researchers at CSIRO developed the 'SQL on FHIR' standard. This standard provides a way to define simple, flat views over FHIR data that can be easily queried using SQL. According to Grimes, the goal is to make FHIR data accessible without requiring deep knowledge of the standard. Technically, the approach avoids relying on a specific SQL dialect by focusing instead on defining 'views.' This flexibility allows users to query these views using various existing SQL dialects and tools they are familiar with. This enables analysts to gain a more complete view of patient data using their established workflows. The standard is already being implemented by multiple organizations, including core members like Google and Microsoft. Implementations include a reference implementation in JavaScript and Pathling (CSIRO's platform), which uses Apache Spark to process large datasets in parallel. Future plans involve integrating with Large Language Models (LLMs) to generate SQL queries from natural language, as well as connecting FHIR to other standards like OMOP.
Technology Note
FHIR（Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources）は医療データ交換の国際標準。このエントリの関連技術: FHIR
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