FHIR and Public Health – Bridging the Gap between Optimism and Realism

FHIR brings a modern approach to interoperability that has been sorely missing in public health. However, with that potential comes the question of how to best balance the opportunity to modernize with the reality of constraints imposed by existing resources and policies. Please join J Michael Consulting’s Craig Newman and Tim Powell as they present the case for both optimism and realism in the world of public health data interoperability. They will discuss how FHIR offers new ideas and approaches to data sharing that simply have not been available before and how the FHIR and public health communities are coming together to address long-standing needs. But they will also present a realistic look at what stands in the way of achieving the appropriate, complete, accurate and timely flow of information for public health programs and use cases. They will conclude with a series of strategies which can be employed today to prepare for the world of FHIR tomorrow. The good news is that we can bridge the gap between optimism and realism and together successfully implement FHIR-based solutions to meet the real-world needs of public health.