ONC Calls for Inferno Beta-Testers of HL7 FHIR US Core IG 4.0.0

ONC has called on health IT developers to leverage Inferno, ONC’s testing suite for the “standardized API for patient and population services” certification criterion, to test the Health Level Seven (HL7) Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) US Core Implementation Guide (IG) 4.0.0.

Inferno will support beta testing for the HL7 FHIR US Core IG 4.0.0 beginning March 2022.

“We’re looking for early feedback from health IT developers who are interested in using the new version in the future as part of Inferno testing,” ONC officials John Bender and Jeff Smith wrote in a HealthITBuzz blog post.

This new version is expected to include enhancements from version 3.1.1, Bender and Smith said.

They noted that the US Core IG 4.0.0 is currently under consideration for the 2022 Standards Version Advancement Process (SVAP). ONC encourages public feedback on if it should approve the 4.0.0 version for use in the Health IT Certification Program.

Since adopting HL7 FHIR Release 4.0.1 and the FHIR US Core IG STU 3.1.0 in the May 2020 ONC Cures Act Final Rule, ONC has worked with the health IT developer community to ensure that Inferno accurately reflects the US Core IG, Bender and Smith said.

“For example, we updated Inferno to test against the US Core version 3.1.1 IG as referenced in our December 2020 Interim Final Rule and updated the API Certification Companion Guide to provide clarifications for 170.315(g)(10), which are a direct result of Inferno testing feedback,” they said.

The ONC officials emphasized that lessons learned through implementing US Core version 3.1.1 in Inferno have informed the expedited development of US Core IG version 4.0.0 and the enhancements it includes.

“This kind of iteration and feedback loop between implementers and standards developers is a feature of FHIR as well as our testing approach,” Bender and Smith wrote. “We expect that this beta testing will inform how Inferno tests using US Core IG version 4.0.0. We recognize that US Core IG version 4.0.0 is an important steppingstone from the current 3.1.1 IG to future IGs.”

“We hope you’ll consider joining this effort and work with us to help improve Inferno for the future,” they said.