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NLM Taps EHRs, FHIR To Improve Sharing Of Medical Research Data.

Health Data Management (10/8) reports that National Library of Medicine (NLM) Director Patricia Flatley Brennan “told a House appropriations subcommittee late last month that NLM is working on tools to facilitate research use of HL7’s Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standard, which is being widely adopted for use in EHR systems.” The efforts by NLM “are in accordance with a National Institutes of Health notice issued in July encouraging NIH-funded researchers to explore the use of the FHIR standard to capture, integrate and exchange clinical data for research purposes and to enhance capabilities to share research data.” Brennan said, “As a major force in health data standards for more than 30 years, NLM’s investments have led to major advances in the ways high volume research and clinical data are collected, structured, standardized, mined and delivered. … In close collaboration with other HHS agencies, NLM develops, funds and disseminates clinical terminologies designated as essential for demonstrating meaningful use of EHRs and health information exchange.”