HL7 FHIR® Implementation Guide: Human Services Directory, Edition 1 - US Realm

DESCRIPTION

The FHIR IG for the Human Service Resource and Provider Directory, is a US Realm published standard, and an intended companion guide to the PDEX Plan-Net Provider Directory. The Human Service Resource and Provider Directory focuses on requirements of real-world implementers of social services directories and leverages analysis of a recognized (US, now International) standard in the human services field that describes social services directories: Open Referral Human Services Data Specification (HSDS) and associated APIs (HSDA). The directory can easily be adapted internationally from the US Realm guide by changes to terminology bindings, as the HSDS standard reflects current international as well as US requirements. The directory allows healthcare providers to search a human and social services directory from within a FHIR-enabled EHR-system, for community-based resources/services during a referral process workflow. Information from the directory is used to make the appropriate selection and to initiate a referral request to help meet the patient's unmet social needs. Additionally, this IG provides a standard for describing information collected by disparate human and social service organizations so the information can be universally understood across entities, including by FHIR-enabled systems used by healthcare providers, healthcare payers, social navigators, other community-based organizations, and consumer-facing applications to locate community-based resources and programs.

 

See the specification at http://hl7.org/fhir/us/hsds/STU1. 

ALTERNATIVE NAMES

HL7 FHIR® Implementation Guide: Human Services Directory, Edition 1 - US Realm may also go by the following names or acronyms:

BENEFITS

• Supports access local directories of human/social services and resources that have been structured/aligned to Open Referral’s Human Services Data Standard (HSDS) using standard FHIR APIs
• Enables healthcare providers, payers, and other community-based organization agents from within FHIR-enabled systems (EHRs, community information system (CIS) vendors, healthcare payers’ systems) to search/locate community-based resources/services during referral process workflows

 

IMPLEMENTATIONS/CASE STUDIES

• Administration for Community Living (ACL) Social Care Referrals Challenge (https://acl.gov/socialcarereferrals);
• Administration for Children and Families (ACF) (https://www.acf.hhs.gov/)

DEVELOPMENT BACKGROUND

This implementation guide was funded by the Administration for Community Living under the Department of HHS to support social care referrals between healthcare providers and payers and aging and disability networks, community-based organizations, and social service networks by providing FHIR APIs to standardized, open resource directories that allow for lookup and retrieval of resources by any state, CBO, or referral vendor for services that can help to improve care coordination and health outcomes to clients and patients with unmet social care needs. Additionally, the Administration for Children and Families under HHS, is looking to this directory specification to facilitate a variety of its referral programs.

This IG supports access local directories of human/social services and resources that have been structured/aligned to Open Referral’s Human Services Data Standard (HSDS) using standard FHIR APIs. These directories are used to search/locate community-based resources/services during referral process workflows by healthcare providers, payers, and other community-based organization agents from within FHIR-enabled systems (EHRs, community information system (CIS) vendors, healthcare payers’ systems). Information from the directory is used to make the appropriate selection and to initiate a referral request to help meet patient's/client’s unmet social needs.

RELATED DOCUMENTS

HL7 FHIR® Implementation Guide: Human Services Directory, Edition 1 - US Realm

STU DOCUMENTS

HL7 FHIR® Implementation Guide: Human Services Directory, Edition 1 - US Realm See the standard at http://hl7.org/fhir/us/hsds/STU1.

Expiration Oct 2025

TOPIC

• Community-Based Health

BALLOT TYPE

• STU

STATUS DATE

2023-10-04

RESPONSIBLE WORK GROUP

PRODUCT TYPE

• Implementation Guide

STAKEHOLDERS

• Health Care IT Vendors
• Healthcare Institutions
• Payors
• Standards Development Organizations (SDOs)

FAMILY

• FHIR

CURRENT STATE

• Active

REALM

• US Realm