A History of HL7: From Terminals to APIs
A journey through 30 years of healthcare interoperability, from costly 1980s interfaces to modern FHIR APIs, following how HL7 evolved from messages to models to web-friendly resources.
FHIR Articles
We believe healthcare deserves better software. Follow our journey building open infrastructure for the future of health.
The Creation of FHIR and Why it Matters for Healthcare
Learn when FHIR was created, why HL7 developed it, and how it transformed healthcare data interoperability across the industry.
FHIR Resources: How Healthcare Data Is Organized
Understand how FHIR resources like Patient, Observation, and Medication enable smooth, standardized healthcare data exchange.
GE HealthCare x Medblocks - Simplifying Cancer Care Decisions
Here we explore a real-world project we did with GE HealthCare, where we tackled the challenges of data normalization in oncology care.
EHR Sidecars and their History
EHR sidecars have a long history of filling gaps that core EHRs couldn’t. This blog looks at how sidecars started, how they evolved, and why they’re still relevant in healthcare today.
Interoperability Runs on Open Source, Not Standards
While open standards set the rules, open source gets the work done. We discuss choosing tools, handling semantics and making health systems actually interoperable.
10 Tools Every FHIR Developer Must Know
In this article, we break down the Top 10 FHIR tools every developer should know in 2025, from building and hosting servers to validating, profiling, exploring, and testing your FHIR data.
Three Ways to Build Your FHIR Server
Here we assess three main approaches to implementing RESTful FHIR servers - Facade, Synchronization and Hybrid. Additionally, we look at FHIR Documents and Messaging information exchange paradigms.
Get Your Patient App Live on Epic in 48 Hours
Deploy your patient-facing FHIR app across Epic hospitals in just 48 hours with this simple guide. We demystify Epic's Automatic Client Record Distribution, letting your apps reach patients without manual installs, legalese and red tape.
What Does It Take to Build a FHIR-First EHR? | Aidbox
What does it take to build a truly modern EHR? In this in-depth conversation with Health Samurai CTO Nikolai Ryzhikov, we explore the path from monolithic systems to modular, FHIR-first platforms.
Learn to Build a Python Facade and Make Your EHR FHIR-Compliant
A 'facade' could be the answer you're looking for to solve your legacy data's FHIR-compatibility woes. In this simple tutorial, we take you through how to create a FHIR Facade on a Postgres database using Python.
Build FHIR Applications in Java with HAPI FHIR
This hands-on guide shows you how to code using the HAPI FHIR library in Java. and create real FHIR apps. Learn to work with FHIR Resources and interact with FHIR REST APIs.
How to Work with FHIR REST APIs using Python
This guide explores how to perform real-world operations like creating, reading, updating and deleting patient data on a FHIR Server using FHIR REST APIs and Python.
Announcing Medblocks openFHIR: An open-source engine that bridges openEHR and FHIR
Introducing openFHIR, an open-source bidirectional mapping engine that converts between openEHR and FHIR health data standards. Built on the FHIRConnect specification and Apache 2.0 licensed.
A Beginner's Guide to FHIR Questionnaire Question Types
FHIR's Questionnaire resource is a great way to build scalable and interoperable forms. Using the right question types can make or break your form data quality.
openEHR vs FHIR and other health IT standards
Health IT has various standards, and choosing the right one is often confusing. Let's understand the differences clearly so you can select the standard for the required task.
Building the SMART on Epic Application: Coding Tutorial
Let's go ahead and apply the fundamentals we learnt in 'Patient App Integration with SMART on Epic - How To Guide - The Fundamentals' and code a fully functional application. In the end, you'll be able to make more applications of your own using SMART.
Patient App Integration with SMART on Epic - How To Guide - The Fundamentals
Healthcare apps rely on a powerful framework called SMART on FHIR, a technology that’s quietly transforming healthcare. In this series, we’ll uncover how it works, and by the end, you’ll know how to build your SMART-powered health app from the ground up.
How to build your first FHIR application using AI in 30 minutes
With the revolutionary technology of Large Language Models and AI assisted coding tools, building healthcare applications are no longer reserved for the seasoned programmers. This article is an introduction to building a FHIR web app for an absolute beginner using AI coding tools and techniques.
FHIR Questionnaire vs Composition: Which Do You Need?
One organizes existing health data and the other gathers new inputs. Which is which? Do you need both? Read on to find out.
Designing for Doctors: A FHIR-Driven Approach to Patient Management That Clinicians Actually Use
Explore how Medblocks' user-friendly patient management solution, powered by FHIR APIs, optimizes hospital workflows. The design prioritizes clinician efficiency and flexibility, facilitating easy registration and real-time patient tracking. Discover how a user-centered design and vendor-neutral APIs enhance healthcare delivery.
FHIR Questionnaire Essentials: How to Get Started
Is it even possible to have healthcare forms that comply with a unified standard? In this tutorial, we explore FHIR's Questionnaire resource, which is a step in the right direction.
Why FHIR Matters: Grahame Grieve’s Mission to End Data Fragmentation
Grahame Grieve, known as the “father of FHIR,” stops by the Digital Health Hackers podcast with an update on global adoption and we look at some of the ongoing stumbling blocks to universal data sharing.
Why We're Reinventing the EHR
Traditional approaches to healthcare software development have significant drawbacks. We believe a platform that has some standardized features and some extensible features might be the right answer.
How to Enable FHIR Profile Validation with HAPI FHIR JPA Server
Walkthrough on how to configure HAPI FHIR to do profile validation for you, and few fundamental concepts of FHIR Profiles.
FHIR vs. Traditional HL7: What Makes This Standard So Different?
Discover why FHIR is changing healthcare IT. Learn about FHIR's advantages over traditional HL7 standards like v2, C-CDA and v3, its rapid adoption, and how it simplifies health data exchange.
What is FHIR? A Beginner's Guide
Learn 5 Key HL7 FHIR Concepts - Resources, Data Elements, Profiles, Exchange Paradigms, and Implementation Guides.
FHIR CDS Hook Service: How to Create One in 10 mins!
Follow along and create your first HL7 FHIR CDS Hooks Service using NodeJS and the CDS Hooks Sandbox in less than 10 minutes.
HL7 FHIR CDS Hooks - A Practical Guide
HL7 CDS Hooks is a specification by HL7 that enables EHRs to integrate Clinical Decision Support using RESTful HTTP APIs.
Which Health IT Standard to Pick: FHIR, openEHR, or OMOP?
Each domain has its own best-suited standard: FHIR, openEHR, and OMOP respectively. There's an art to picking the standard for the data use case.
What is a FHIR Terminology Service?
The FHIR terminology service offers functions derived from a collection of CodeSystem, ValueSet, and ConceptMap resources.
How To Create Your First FHIR Resource Like A Pro
Learn to create FHIR patient resources: Navigate HL7, use JSON schemas and code with VS Code for seamless development. Learn healthcare interoperability step-by-step.
Exploring FHIR Paradigms: Case Studies Across the Globe
FHIR boosts healthcare data exchange, linking clinical, admin, and research via EHR, REST, Documents, Messages, and Services.
Migrating Legacy Data to FHIR at scale using ETL's
ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) moves data from legacy systems to FHIR, using Apache Debezium and Nifi for syncing databases in FHIR format.
SMART on FHIR-Frontend Flows
SMART on FHIR enables health apps to connect with EHRs securely, including OAuth2 and OpenID for authorization and authentication. It supports standalone and EHR app launches, emphasizing security, PKCE support, and specifying access through scopes.
CMS Interoperability and Patient Access Final Rule
CMS's Patient Access Rule mandates HL7 FHIR API for data access, provider directory via API, payer-to-payer data exchange, and daily federal-state data exchanges, enhancing interoperability and patient data access.
SMART on FHIR Authentication for Backend Services
SMART on FHIR defines two ways in which clients can authenticate - symmetric (shared secret) and asymmetric (public key) client authentication.
FHIR poised to gain center stage in the US
FHIR leads healthcare interoperability, enabling secure data exchange across systems. CMS/ONC's initiatives like Blue Button 2.0, BCDA, and DPC pilot utilize FHIR for Medicare data sharing, enhancing patient access and care coordination.