# Background - De-Identification, Anonymization, Redaction Toolkit Services v1.0.0-ballot

* [**Table of Contents**](toc.md)
* **Background**

## Background

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| *Page standards status:*[Trial-use](http://hl7.org/fhir/R4/versions.html#std-process) |

This section provides an overview of the implementation guide.

### IG Purpose

Currently many federal reporting use cases use aggregate data reporting because they are not authorized to receive PHI/PII as part of the reports. However, there is a desire to use de-identified or anonymized information to generate more insights. This requires data submitters to effectively remove PHI/PII data before submission. Interest in more granular reporting without PHI/PII exists across agencies.In addition, there are research, quality improvement initiatives and AI/ML use cases that require de-identified and anonymized information. The following are some example programs that require these capabilities

* Federal Agency Reporting

This IG defines the specifications by which organizations can de-identify and/or anonymize information which can then be used as part of data exchanges and workflows.

Read the [Use Cases](usecases.md) section to get an idea of the various systems, actors and the data flow requirements.

### Guiding Principles for the IG

The following are the guiding principles for the DARTS IG:

* Reduce EHR burden in generating the de-identified and anonymized data by providing a consistent representation of the data
* Align with existing standards and regulations such as ONC 2015 Edition, 2015 Edition Health IT Certification Criteria, 2015 Edition Cures Update and Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability (HTI-1) Final Rule while improving the timeliness and completeness of data for the specified [Use Cases](usecases.md).

### IG In-Scope Requirements

The following requirements are in-scope for the DARTS IG based on the use cases

* Define the service that can de-identify FHIR data using a policy identifier
* Define a mechanism to link de-identifeid data across data sources within an enterprise
* Define the service that can anonymize FHIR data.

### IG Out-of-Scope

The following aspects are out-of-scope for the DARTS IG

* Risk assessment for the services specified by the DARTS FHIR IG
* Policies and processes followed by data submitters that allow data sharing, collecting consent, or compliance with regulatory requirements.
* Mechanisms to identify the patients for whom the data needs to be de-identified or anonymized

### Underlying Specifications

This guide is based on the [HL7 FHIR R4](http://hl7.org/fhir/R4/index.html) standard, and is aligned with [US Core IG](http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/index.html) profiles and terminology.

Implementers of the DARTS IG must understand some basic information about [HL7 FHIR R4](http://hl7.org/fhir/R4/index.html) and [US Core IG](http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/index.html) to successfully use the DARTS IG.

