The following is based on the answers to the State of FHIR survey 2023 from Mika Tuomainen, HL7 Finland.

Regulation

The regulatory environment for FHIR in Finland remains somewhat unspecified in the survey response. However, HL7 Finland is actively funding several FHIR projects and has appointed a FHIR Ambassador to promote the standard's adoption. While no specific regulation requiring the use of FHIR was mentioned, the existing infrastructure and initiatives by HL7 Finland indicate a supportive environment for FHIR's growth.

National Standards Development

HL7 Finland is the primary organization overseeing the development and implementation of FHIR standards in the country. The national FHIR data model is in progress, with a focus on developing various FHIR standards that, although not derived from a single national model, address a broad range of use cases. The ongoing work can be followed on fhir.fi.

FHIR Implementation

FHIR adoption is expected to increase, with several successful use cases already in place:

• Kanta PHR (Omatietovanto) operates entirely on FHIR.
• Omaolo and Apotti leverage FHIR servers and APIs.
• National Kanta Services and domestic EHR systems like CGI and Esko employ FHIR for internal and external communication.
• Apps like BCB Medical, Duodecim, and Sensotrend access EHR data through FHIR.

These examples showcase FHIR's versatility in lowering costs and improving both healthcare outcomes and information accessibility.

Despite these advancements, challenges such as lack of FHIR knowledge and the need to integrate with legacy systems persist. Nevertheless, Finland is looking forward to expanding FHIR use cases, including appointments, disclosure information, and wellbeing apps.

The first Finnish base level implementation guides have completed the ballot process, paving the way for their formal publication and adoption.

HL7 Finland and its members remain key stakeholders in FHIR's evolution within the country.