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Healthcare Data GlossaryTech

FHIR: Definition and Healthcare Context

Full name: Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources

Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) is a standard for health care data exchange developed by HL7 International. FHIR defines modular data elements — resources such as Patient, Practitioner, Organization, and Observation — exchangeable via REST APIs, JSON, and XML using standard web technologies. The ONC 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule mandated FHIR-based APIs for certified EHRs starting in 2022. FHIR R4 is the current base standard for U.S. health care interoperability.

Last updated: 2026-06-17Reviewed by: Dr. Jennifer Montecillo, MD — Gullas College of Medicine, 2019. Non-practicing medical reviewer.

How it’s used

  • CMS NPPES NPI Registry: Fonteum's FHIR API layer exposes NPPES provider records as FHIR Practitioner and Organization resources at /api/fhir/Practitioner and /api/fhir/Organization.
  • CMS QPP MIPS: the CMS Quality Payment Program uses FHIR-based APIs for electronic measure submission and quality data exchange.

Frequently asked questions

What does FHIR stand for?
FHIR stands for Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources — an HL7 standard for exchanging health care data using modern web technologies like REST APIs and JSON.
What version of FHIR is used in the US?
FHIR R4 (Release 4) is the current base standard mandated by the ONC 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule for certified EHRs.
How does FHIR improve health data exchange?
FHIR replaces legacy HL7 v2 messaging with RESTful APIs, enabling apps and systems to access structured health records using standard HTTP requests.

Related terms

  • HL7
  • EHR
  • HIPAA
  • CMS
  • Prior Authorization
  • ERA

Authoritative sources

  • HL7 FHIR R4 specification↗
  • CMS: FHIR API interoperability overview↗
  • ONC: 21st Century Cures Final Rule and FHIR↗
← All glossary terms

The substrate, by the numbers

9.2Mgraph entitiesProviders, organizations, owners, and facilities
15.7Mlinked identifiersNPIs, CCNs, LEIs and more, resolved to entities
5Mgraph edgesSource-attested relationships between entities
44federal source familiesDistinct CMS, OIG, HRSA, FDA and peer datasets
35dataset pagesCitable, downloadable /data catalog pages
65reproducible studiesEach shipping the SQL behind its figures

Built on the authoritative federal record

The primary sources, named on every page.

These are the federal agencies whose public datasets Fonteum ingests and attributes — the issuing authorities, not customers or partners. Every figure on the site links back to one of them.

  • CMS
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See the full source registry, with license and refresh cadence for each →

Reproducible by design

Every figure traces to its federal source.

14-tuple provenance

Every rendered fact ties to a source URL, dataset ID, snapshot date, row key, and SHA-256 — the full chain-of-custody record.

Reproducible SQL

Each study ships the exact query behind its figures, run against the cited federal snapshot. Re-run it yourself.

Daily reconciliation

Published counts are reconciled against the upstream federal datasets on a daily cadence, with drift logged.

Named medical review

Reviewed by Jennifer Montecillo, MD, medical reviewer. Non-practicing medical reviewer.

Read the full provenance and attestation methodology →

Two doors

Use the free API and open data

Query providers, facilities, sanctions, and quality scores — each field carrying its federal source. Self-serve, no call to start.

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Reviewed by Jennifer Montecillo, MD, medical reviewer. Non-practicing medical reviewer.

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