This page is part of the FHIR Specification (v1.0.2: DSTU 2). The current version which supercedes this version is 5.0.0. For a full list of available versions, see the Directory of published versions

2.14 Implementation Guides defined as part of FHIR

FHIR Infrastructure Work Group

Maturity Level: N/A

Ballot Status: DSTU 2

An Implementation Guide is a collection of Profiles, that make Conformance rules (technially, Conformance, StructureDefinition, ValueSet, etc.) that, together with textual guidance, provides instruction on how to make use of FHIR in a particular problem space. Implementation guides may be developed and published as part of a FHIR release or as separate specifications. Additional support and tooling for implementation guides is being developed, so the content provided here should be considered "preliminary" from a publication perspective.

The implementation guides include artifacts with a set of representations generated from the conformance resources. All the representation forms are equally normative. Many examples are also provided, and considerable care is taken over them. However, unless indicated otherwise, the examples have no formal standing (see General Notes about examples).

Note: At present, some implementation guides are published in conjunction with the FHIR specification because tooling that supports straightforward independent publication is not yet developed. However, the intention is that in the future implementation guides will be published separately from the core FHIR specification. The various implementation guides are subject to separate ballots than the core FHIR specification. There is a registry of additional implementation guides .

The predominance of US implementation guides in this specification is a reflection of the current point in the lifecycle of standards development for the US program. It should in no way be interpreted as suggesting that FHIR is a US-centric specification.

Name	Usage	Ballot
Argonaut Project	A joint task force of the HIT Standards and Policy Committees: a first-generation FHIR-based API and Core Data Services specification	There is no balloted content associated with the Argonaut project. Comments against the Argonaut implementation guide can be made to Project Argonaut Google Group
Data Access Framework	A U.S. Realm guide for making use of FHIR resources to support queries between systems within an enterprise and across enterprises	DAF has its own ballot
EHRS Functional model - Record Lifecycle Events	Describes the use of the Provenance and AuditEvent resources to support meeting the needs of the EHRS functional model requirements for tracking record lifecycle.	FHIR DSTU ballot
Quality Improvement Core Profiles	An implementation guide for making use of FHIR resources in clinical quality measures and clinical decision support applications. Developed for the U.S. Realm, but more broadly applicable.	QICore has its own ballot
Structured Data Capture	A U.S. Realm guide for making use of Data Elements, Questionnaires and QuestionnaireResponse to support pre-population and auto-population of forms.	SDC has its own ballot
Structured Data Capture - Data Element Exchange	A U.S. Realm guide for supporting the exchange and maintenance of Data Elements by and between data element registries.	SDC has its own ballot
US Laboratory Guides (USLab)	A US Realm laboratory guides making use of Diagnostic Order, Diagnostic Report, and FHIR resources referenced by them to support ordering reporting of laboratory tests in ambulatory care and for reporting of reportable lab tests to Public Health jurisdictions.	FHIR DSTU ballot