What is FHIR and its advantage over older HL7 v2?

• A. FHIR is Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources; it is modular, RESTful, uses modern web standards, and enables easier API-based access and interoperability.
• B. FHIR is Fast Health Interoperable Resources; it uses legacy messaging.
• C. FHIR stands for Flexible Health Information Repository; it is monolithic.
• D. FHIR is a data model for imaging only.

Answer: (D)

FHIR enables interoperability by using modular resources and standard web APIs. It is built around RESTful principles and modern web standards, so data can be accessed and exchanged over the web with simple HTTP operations and common formats like JSON or XML. This makes it much easier for developers to create apps that read and write health data, integrate systems, and share information across different platforms.

This approach contrasts with the older HL7 v2, which relies on custom, legacy messaging formats that are harder to work with in web and app environments. FHIR’s resource-based design means data are organized into well-defined, decoupled pieces (like a patient, an observation, or an imaging study) that can be combined as needed, promoting flexible and scalable interoperability.

The option describing FHIR as a data model for imaging only or as monolithic is incorrect because FHIR covers a wide range of healthcare data beyond imaging and is intentionally modular rather than a single, tightly coupled system.