Rapid Healthcare Interoperability/Workability Resources (FHIR) Standard: The Situation Worldwide and in Türkiye.

As part of the Türkiye Klinikler TV Digital Health Program, we presented three programs on FHIR (Family Health Inhibition). Since approximately 2011, there has been a rapid effort to learn about FHIR worldwide, particularly in the US and the EU. An extraordinary effort is observed. Our research showed that the concept of FHIR is not yet fully understood in Türkiye. For this reason, we conducted interviews with the actors in the ecosystem. These interviews can be accessed through the links at the end of the text.

These three interviews convey the following main messages:

• FHIR is no longer a “technical option”; it is the de facto global standard for digital health.
• Digitalization is strong in the daily delivery of healthcare services in Türkiye; however, the necessary data governance and interoperability for secondary uses (research, quality control, artificial intelligence, policy) are lacking.
• The problem is not technology; it's the lack of governance, terminology harmonization, a national strategy, and a continuous learning ecosystem.
• FHIR alone is not sufficient:
  • Implementation Guides
  • Compatibility with international coding systems (LOINC, SNOMED CT, ICD, RxNorm, etc.)
  • The concept of Electronic Health Record (EHR) needs to be defined correctly.
• The European Union and the US are examples for FHIR:
  • in clinical care,
  • in the study,
  • in artificial intelligence and decision support systems
  • It clearly shows how it was made mandatory.
• A proposal for Türkiye:
  • “Instead of "wholesale transformation"
  • Pilot areas + controlled FHIR crossings
  • learning-teaching centers
  • multi-stakeholder (public-academia-industry) collaboration.

If you are conducting research in healthcare, interested in machine learning and artificial intelligence, and want to access information about your patients and related diseases in bulk, you should learn how to prepare health data according to the FHIR standard for high-quality and secure information.

These interviews will give you a holistic perspective, enabling you to confidently chart your course in digital health.

Kind regards…

Prof. Dr. Diler Aslan

ORCID ID: 0000-0003-4907-9445

February 3, 2026

Access addresses for interview videos:

Learning About Digital Health is Essential: But How? | PART 1: Digital Health Components, Ecosystem Stakeholders and FHIR (Aslan D, Akçapınar Sezer E, Turhan K.)(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvhfBsZGp7Q&t=5s)

Learning Digital Health is Essential: But How? | PART 2: Why are FHIR-Based Software Necessary? Is Türkiye Ready? (Aslan D, Akyürek AÖ.)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSPzwNjNoAg&t=1s)

FHIR-Based Software | Part 3: Using and Benefits of FHIR-Based Software (Aslan D, Laleci Erktürkmen G.)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nBQbxgtPl8&t=1s)