Cerner, the EHR vendor that has been most enthusiastic about the draft open healthcare data standard FHIR, has opened up a “sandbox” to third-party developers to help them create Smart on FHIR applications.
SMART on FHIR implements an open architecture to support interchangeable Web applications that can be “plugged in” to any compliant EHR or health data container. Part of the allure is that the effort can get away from document-centric approaches and expose discrete data elements as services.
Cerner said any developer could visit a new website, code.cerner.com, to start coding immediately with the SMART on FHIR tools in the Cerner open sandbox, research educational development tools and browse current apps that are available or in development
“Cerner is committed to taking a leadership role to support third-party developers and help further health information technology,” said David McCallie, M.D., senior vice president for medical informatics at Cerner, in a prepared statement. “Encouraging innovators to develop apps that work across existing health records can help the industry advance the way care is delivered through improved interoperability capabilities.”
Speaking at past health IT events, McCaille has said that Cerner increasingly hears from its health system customers that EHRs are becoming a commodity platform and that the winners in the market will be those that make their platforms open and extensible. Health systems want vendor independence with few proprietary entanglements, he added.
The company said that 15 new SMART on FHIR apps are in development or in production and will be showcased in Cerner booth 2032 at HIMSS16, Feb. 29 – March 4, at Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas. Attendees will be able to explore the variety of apps on interactive touch screens, including EnrG|Rheum by xG Health Solutions, the VisualDx Clinical Decision Support App and RxCheck by RxREVU.
