Jason returning with the Golden Fleece |
This is, simply stated (and to paraphrase John Halamka on the call today), the most promising path towards meaningful healthcare interoperability we've ever known. Finally, we have modern protocols such as REST, OAuth and OpenID that are being applied to healthcare in a scalable way.
The SMART on FHIR platform epitomizes the work done to date in this effort, and the Argonaut Project is intended as a sprint to get the FHIR DSTU 2 deliverables in time for a May ballot. To be clear, this is still an alpha/beta product and not quite ready for public consumption, but the promise is already quite evident.
When I arrived at Duke in the summer of 2013 (and before the SMART project had been converted to work with FHIR), I had a goal to create a standardized platform for interoperability for web and native mobile apps that would work with our Epic implementation.
Starting in 2014, while we already had a functional implementation of our own framework, we realized that we shouldn't recreate the wheel, and that the SMART on FHIR project was being developed the accomplish the same goals. With that in mind we realigned our efforts to push forward with integration of the SMART platform into our Epic EHR.
As of January 2015 we have a functional implementation of the SMART platform here at Duke in our proof-of-concept environment. We currently have an iOS app and a SMART-enabled web app working against this environment with plans for several more current and future app integrations, including apps developed here at Duke.
We're looking forward to be involved in this Pilot Implementation process (see graphic below) and look forward to sharing more in the coming months, including at HIMSS in April where we will demo these integrations.
Never before have we had such a golden opportunity for robust healthcare interoperability!
Anyone can get involved in this open process. |