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Section 1c: FHIR®
Section 3: Implementation Guides

HL7 FHIR® Implementation Guide: SMART Health Cards and Links, Edition 1

DESCRIPTION

SMART Health Cards (SHC) and SMART Health Links (SHL) provide a toolkit for consumer-mediated sharing of FHIR-based healthcare data, enabling consumers to receive, store, and share health information securely and with authenticity via digital signatures. Developed during the COVID-19 pandemic response, these specifications have seen international deployment, facilitating the sharing of COVID-19 immunization and laboratory results. The project's immediate goal is to bring the existing specifications into the HL7 ballot process, retaining their current feature set, while deferring the development of new features for a subsequent phase. This initiative involves close coordination with various stakeholders, including healthcare providers, insurance companies, public health agencies, and technology vendors.

 

See the specification at http://hl7.org/fhir/uv/smart-health-cards-and-links/STU1

ALTERNATIVE NAMES

HL7 FHIR® Implementation Guide: SMART Health Cards and Links, Edition 1 may also go by the following names or acronyms:

"HL7 FHIR® IG: SMART Health Cards and Links, E1",smart-health-cards, SHC, SHL, SHLinks, FHIR-uv-smart-health-cards-and-links

BENEFITS

  • SMART Health Cards enable people to carry verifiable digital or paper copies of specific records, like official vaccination histories or lab test results, often as a scannable QR code for situations requiring proof of authenticity
  •  SMART Health Links allow for the secure sharing of more extensive or evolving data, such as a complete immunization history or ongoing lab results, through a special web link
  • Supports formally attested clinical facts where verification is crucial, and other useful health-related content where convenient access and communication are the main goals

 

IMPLEMENTATIONS/CASE STUDIES

DEVELOPMENT BACKGROUND

This Implementation Guide outlines how individuals can use SMART Health Cards and SMART Health Links to manage and share their health information. SMART Health Cards enable people to carry verifiable digital or paper copies of specific records, like official vaccination histories or lab test results, often as a scannable QR code for situations requiring proof of authenticity. SMART Health Links allow for the secure sharing of more extensive or evolving data, such as a complete immunization history or ongoing lab results, through a special web link; to control access, these links can be protected by a passcode that the individual provides to the recipient. This framework is designed to handle both formally attested clinical facts where verification is crucial, and other useful health-related content where convenient access and communication are the main goals.

RELATED DOCUMENTS

HL7 FHIR® Implementation Guide: SMART Health Cards and Links, Edition 1

STU DOCUMENTS

HL7 FHIR® Implementation Guide: SMART Health Cards and Links, Edition 1 See the standard at http://hl7.org/fhir/uv/smart-health-cards-and-links/STU1. (Submit Feedback on STU)

BALLOT TYPE

  • STU

STATUS DATE

2025-07-22

RESPONSIBLE WORK GROUP

FHIR Infrastructure

PRODUCT TYPE

  • Implementation Guide

STAKEHOLDERS

  • Clinical and Public Health Laboratories
  • Clinical Decision Support Systems Vendors
  • EHR, PHR Vendors
  • Emergency Services Providers
  • Equipment Vendors
  • Health Care IT Vendors
  • Healthcare Institutions
  • HIS Vendors
  • Immunization Registries
  • Lab Vendors
  • Local and State Departments of Health
  • Medical Imaging Service Providers
  • Payors
  • Pharmaceutical Vendors
  • Quality Reporting Agencies
  • Regulatory Agency
  • Standards Development Organizations (SDOs)

FAMILY

  • FHIR

CURRENT STATE

  • Active

REALM

  • Universal