Insights & Research

Thoughts on healthcare interoperability

Deep dives into FHIR, openEHR, IHE, and the architecture decisions shaping modern health information exchange.

IPS on openEHR — Webinar Recording

Can openEHR and FHIR truly work together without proprietary glue? This webinar walks through the International Patient Summary use case end to end — from the gap between the two standards to a live demo of openFHIR generating an IPS from an openEHR CDR.

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IHE and openEHR Plugathon

IHE defines how systems exchange data. openEHR defines what that data means at its core. At the IHE Connectathon in Brussels, openEHR International and IHE explored where these two worlds overlap — and what a truly vendor-neutral, semantically rich architecture could look like.

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eOverdracht in a Hybrid Architecture of openEHR and FHIR

A working proof-of-concept showing how the Dutch national care transfer standard can be implemented in a hybrid openEHR + FHIR environment — covering mCSD routing, ACP data models, and vendor-neutral design.

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FHIR Server and XDS

Despite momentum toward FHIR adoption, XDS remains extensively used across Europe. This article explores how Firely Server acts as a FHIR interface over XDS systems through MHD, mXDE, and QEDm profiles.

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Analytics with Firely Server

Running analytics directly on production clinical databases creates serious risks. This article presents an architecture using Firely Server integrated with Elasticsearch, Logstash, Kibana, and RabbitMQ to keep analytics isolated and safe.

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Firely Server and openEHR

FHIR and openEHR will coexist rather than compete. This article explores how Firely Server can be configured as a gateway, routing FHIR requests to an openEHR backend via custom plugins and the openFHIR mapping engine.

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Extending Firely Server & FHIR DS4P

A practical walkthrough of implementing the FHIR DS4P Implementation Guide as a Firely Server plugin, covering custom search parameters, IReadAuthorizer services, and inline security label enforcement.

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Renaissance of Vitaly's Interoperable Core

After the IHE Connectathon in Rennes, the Vitaly platform achieved full compliance across MHD, International Patient Summary, mXDE, QEDm, and legacy XDS profiles — plus a FHIR federation component for multi-server querying.

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Vitaly Going NUTS

NUTS is a joint initiative by healthcare software suppliers to develop an open-source protocol regulating access to healthcare data. This article covers how it works, how it integrates with Vitaly, and a proof-of-concept implementation.

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Virtual MDT Meetings Through the Lens of Interoperability

Behind every virtual MDT meeting lies a stack of interoperability standards. This article examines how SMART on FHIR, XDS, IHE Cross Enterprise Workflow, Master Patient Index, and QEDm combine to make collaborative clinical decision-making work at scale.

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Data First: Use-Case Driven Interoperability

Technical integration is only the first phase. The real opportunity emerges when organisations leverage integrated data to create meaningful solutions. This article introduces two use-case-driven applications built on an interoperable platform foundation.

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Pragmatic Approach to Interoperability

Real-world healthcare interoperability requires pragmatism. This article traces an evolution through five stages of understanding standards in health IT, and the value of remaining flexible across XDS, FHIR, and HL7v2 rather than over-committing to any one approach.

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