Stream: implementers
Topic: Using FHIR as an application database?
Tim Berezny (Nov 08 2019 at 18:09):
Philosophical question: Is FHIR meant to be used for data interchange, and/or as a data structure for application databases.
i.e., when building a new healthcare app, would it be a good idea to build it on top of a FHIR server database, or to design with its own data structure (that is FHIR friendly) and use FHIR for integration interchange?
Lloyd McKenzie (Nov 08 2019 at 18:17):
FHIR's primary purpose is data exchange. It can be used to inform your persistence layer. Whether that's an appropriate choice depends on what you want your persistence layer to do.
Michele Mottini (Nov 08 2019 at 18:18):
Own data structure - FHIR has lots of stuff that won't be used / needed and possible some missing stuff (eg in the US you would most likely have fields for race and ethnicity - that are extensions in FHIR)
Paul Church (Nov 08 2019 at 18:33):
FHIR as a native persistence layer needs profiles to narrow down the data model and fix a set of extensions. It can be a good choice for applications whose data aligns well with core FHIR use cases.
Grahame Grieve (Nov 08 2019 at 19:54):
this is an FAQ. see http://www.healthintersections.com.au/?p=2776. Further discussion may be warranted on #analytics on FHIR
Tim Berezny (Nov 08 2019 at 21:21):
These are very insightful and helpful answers, thanks.
Last updated: Apr 12 2022 at 19:14 UTC
