Interoperability & HIE

Consortium to Promote Implementation of a FHIR Genomics Platform

Feb. 21, 2018

At this week’s HL7 Genomics Conference in Washington, D.C., a new group was introduced to promote implementation of a FHIR Genomics platform.

David Raths

At this week’s HL7 Genomics Conference in Washington, D.C., a new group was introduced to promote implementation of a FHIR Genomics platform. The Consortium for Agile Genomics (CAG) will provide project support, certification, expertise, and validation tools. Its members will collaborate on challenges of genomic data integration.

Its founding members say forming the consortium is the next logical step beyond FHIR Genomics connect-a-thons and pilots. They say the goal in building a network of partners is to enable standardized communication within organizations and across an ecosystem.

Part of HL7’s FHIR Foundation, the consortium will leverage HL7 Domain Analysis Model: Clinical Genomics use cases, which passed ballot in HL7 in January 2018. It will facilitate agile sprints to leverage the latest standards and seek to promote transitioning from pilots to production by certifying for genomics standardization at five levels of complexity. The lowest level, Bronze, would be certified for receiving basic genetic results, while the highest level, Diamond, would be certified for advanced precision medicine integration.

The consortium said its timeline would enable the identification of priority use cases by end of the second quarter of 2018. Later in 2018, Agile Genomics plans to work to identify genomics partners for implementation initiatives as one element of its Phase 1. The scope of this phase is to define business requirements, finalize the certification framework, and design materials for implementation sprints.

The project partners will be drawn from a diverse body of stakeholders with staff including a program manager and director experienced in HL7 FHIR Genomics data exchange standard, the consortium said.

Leaders of the consortium include:

• Charles Jaffe, MD, Ph.D., CEO, HL7;

• Gil Alterovitz, Ph.D., Director, Agile Genomics and Co-Chair, HL7 Clinical Genomics Workgroup;

• Wei-Lun Hsu, P.hD., Program Manager, Agile Genomics and Member, HL7 Clinical Genomics Workgroup; and

• Grant Wood, Healthcare System Representative, Agile Genomics and Member, HL7 Clinical Genomics Workgroup.