Taiwan FHIR Connectathon 2026 Tests Four Major Themes from TW Core to International Health Record Exchange

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The 'TW Connectathon 2026,' spearheaded by MISAT, was held to validate the actual interoperability capabilities of medical information systems. This year, 47 institutions and 52 teams participated, focusing on four major themes. The first is the national track, which tests converting non-FHIR data into FHIR format compliant with TW Core standards, ensuring proper mapping to international standards like LOINC and SNOMED CT. The second is the government track, using the National Health Insurance Administration's (NHIA) pre-approval for cancer drugs (PAS). This validates transforming internal hospital data into FHIR, integrating PDF attachments and DICOM images for the review process. The third application track focuses on IHE Internet User Authorization (IUA) and SMART on FHIR authorization structures, checking cross-system interoperability for future development. The fourth international track centers on International Patient Summary (IPS), promoted by HL7/WHO, facilitating cross-border medical record exchange. MISAT has formed a trans-national alliance with Japan, Korea, and Australia to promote the Asia-Pacific IPS. Validation utilizes two levels: Capability Statement and Interoperability testing, using FHIRfox—a simulated HIS data platform—as the consistent test environment. Future plans include expanding coverage to electronic prescriptions and Next Generation Sequencing (NGS).