HL7 Chief Charles Jaffe to Update on FHIR Argonaut Project Progress at HIMSS16

CEO says focus has been on making interoperability faster and cheaper.

More than a year after its implementation, Charles Jaffe, MD, CEO of HL7, is scheduled to return to the HIMSS Annual Conference to update the industry on the accomplishments to date and shed light on developments coming in the near future. HL7 launched the Argonaut Project in collaboration with healthcare IT vendors and providers to accelerate the adoption of Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources and, according to Jaffe, there are several exciting developments to discuss.

Charles Jaffe“First of all, the key that separates FHIR from some of the other standards is that it was created from the start for the implementation community,” Jaffe said. “The focus has been around making their process faster, cheaper and incrementally easier.” One of the most tangible achievements has been the development of a rheumatology app by Geisinger Health System and xG Health Solutions, a company founded by Geisinger, that talks directly with Epic and Cerner EHRs in real-time.

“This provides data access for everyone in the healthcare continuum,” Jaffe said. “And it works out-of-the-box.” Other continued Argonaut developments, according to Jaffe, are focusing on accessing data, not necessarily writing it. Both Partners HealthCare and Lockheed Martin have recently developed programs to give users access to data across platforms, and Jaffe credits FHIR for much of the progress...