# Getting started with FHIR

[HL7 FHIR](https://www.hl7.org/fhir/) (Fast Healthcare
Interoperability Resources); is a next-generation interoperability standard from
the standards development organization Health Level 7 (HL7).

FHIR evolved out of the desire to shift healthcare IT towards modern API driven
approaches making healthcare development more accessible to mobile and web
developers everywhere.

Whilst interoperability - or promoting data exchange - is the primary goal of
FHIR, its design offers many benefits especially for digital health solutions:

- *A common data model for building healthcare applications*: FHIR Resources represent individual units of clinical and administrative information that are used to define the data model for a healthcare application.
- *Open specification and free to use*: The FHIR specification is open meaning that anyone can get involved in the balloting process. In addition it's free to use for any application anywhere.
- *Based on familiar technologies*: FHIR is a specification and an open standardized web API that is based on established web standards like REST, OAuth, XML, JSON and HTTP.
- *Promotes reusability of content* : FHIR Resources that define the logical models, data dictionaries and coding systems for a specific application can be shared and reused. This promotes more consistent data collection across similar programs as well as dissemination of evidence based guidelines such as the [WHO SMART
  Guidelines](https://www.who.int/teams/digital-health-and-innovation/smart-guidelines/fhir-based-smart-guidelines).

If you are new to FHIR or just looking to learn more, here is a selection of
resources that can help you get up to speed quickly.

- [HL7 FHIR Specification](https://www.hl7.org/fhir/)
- [What is HL7 FHIR?](https://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/page/2021-04/What%20Is%20FHIR%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf)
- [Digital Square on FHIR Webinar Series](https://digitalsquare.org/resourcesrepository/digital-square-on-fhir-4c78p)
- [Our FHIR SDK for Android Developers](https://medium.com/androiddevelopers/our-fhir-sdk-for-android-developers-9f8455e0b42f)