HL7's FHIR Foundry Speeds Up Health Data Standards Adoption

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HL7 designed and offers the platform 'Foundry' based on FHIR standards, providing a space for healthcare organizations and technology vendors to test interoperability before actual implementation. Foundry is an open ecosystem where developers can discover, test, and implement FHIR-based solutions, helping reduce adoption barriers and learning curves. At the federal level, CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) finalized its Interoperability and Prior Authorization Final Rule in January 2024. This rule mandates payers to implement a HL7 FHIR Prior Authorization API to improve electronic health information exchange. This mandate aims to enhance interoperability across healthcare systems, potentially saving an estimated $15 billion over the next decade. Furthermore, the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy (ASTP) released the second version of the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) in mid-2024. This framework supports interoperability measures including FHIR APIs. These combined efforts aim to achieve free and secure data flow across entire healthcare systems.