Better patient experience using HL7 FHIR on cloud
Project Overview
WinFully on Technologies is a leading healthcare IT consulting firm with 16 years of experience in interoperability and digital health strategies. WinFully was hired by the Health organization to enhance their FCA, which was developed to coordinate care for cancer patients and their caregivers.
Challenges & Requirements
The FCA was initially using standard EHR web services to pull data from various sources, which limited the amount and quality of information available to the caregivers. The app also needed to include personal facts about the patients to help the providers connect with them better.
“Value-based care is the right step towards a quality focused care. Value is measured by either improvement in (1) quality of life or (2) length of life for the patient. The individual patient’s perception of these two measures are a major factor in the determinant of value, allowing the patient to be a vital member of the care team. Therefore, the success of value-based care depends on doctor-patient communication.”
– Dr. Simon Lorenz, Co-Founder of Klara
Process
WinFully used its expertise in HL7 FHIR to convert the FCA’s API from standard EHR web services to FHIR services, which enabled the app to access data from a wider range of sources, such as primary healthcare partner contact information, care partner names, calendar of appointments, provider notes, patient-managed medication scheduler, journal-like feature, and healthcare team member names. WinFully also used FHIR to store and retrieve personal facts about the patients, such as pets’ names, hobbies, and favorite vacations.
- WinFully leveraged Geisinger’s core data platform, which is a centralized repository of clinical and operational data, to provide the data sources for the FCA app. WinFully used HL7 FHIR to standardize and structure the data from different systems and formats, such as EHRs, labs, and devices.
- WinFully developed a FHIR server, which is a software component that implements the FHIR specification and provides a RESTful API for accessing and manipulating the FHIR resources. WinFully hosted the FHIR server on Geisinger’s internal network and connected it to the core data platform.
- WinFully modified the FCA app, which was developed by Merck, to use the FHIR server as its data source instead of the standard EHR web services. WinFully used the FHIR client library, which is a software component that facilitates the communication and data exchange between the FHIR server and the app. WinFully also used the FHIR resources, which are the standardized data models that represent the healthcare information, such as Patient, Medication, and Observation.
- WinFully deployed the FCA app on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store and made it available for the caregivers and the care team members. WinFully used the FHIR server to retrieve and update the data from the core data platform and displayed the data on the app’s user interface. WinFully also used the FHIR server to store and retrieve personal facts about the patients, such as pets’ names, hobbies, and favorite vacations.
Results
The FCA improved the efficiency and effectiveness of communication and coordination between the caregivers and the care team, as well as enhance the patient experience and satisfaction. The app also demonstrated the potential of FHIR to enable interoperability and data exchange across different systems and platforms.
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