In Guatemala, FHIR is not yet being used to exchange healthcare data. FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) is a standard for sharing health information electronically between systems.

No specific FHIR versions are in active use at this time. The country is at an early stage of exploring the standard.

Looking ahead, we expect a strong increase in FHIR adoption in the coming years. Interest is growing, even if practical use is still limited.

Rules and Support

The regulatory landscape for health data in Guatemala is still developing:

  • Health data exchange rules: There are no regulations that require the use of standards in electronic health data exchange.
  • FHIR requirements: FHIR is not mentioned in any regulation.
  • Deadlines: None are in place.
  • Funding: No government funds are currently available to support FHIR adoption.

National Setup

The national infrastructure for health data standards is limited:

  • Standards organization: There is no national organization responsible for health data standards.
  • Implementation guides: No base or core FHIR implementation guide exists for Guatemala.
  • Terminology services: The status of a national FHIR terminology server is unknown.

Regarding the FHIR Community Process (FCP), one or more organizations are exploring becoming participants. In 2–3 years, we expect Guatemala to have one or more approved FCP participants.

One contributor noted: "There is a huge disorder and lack of governance, some of this supported by international development agencies and multi-laterals. It is necessary to strengthen the national ecosystem engaging with private sector and academia."

Active Use Cases

At this time, there are no known successful FHIR use cases in Guatemala. No local implementation guides or specific national projects have been developed.

However, there are upcoming FHIR implementation use cases on the horizon that contributors are looking forward to.

Who's Using FHIR

The main stakeholders showing interest in FHIR in Guatemala are:

  • Care providers
  • Government agencies

Adoption is mostly being promoted by international organizations rather than driven by local regulation or market demand.

AI and FHIR

The growing use of AI and machine learning is seen as strongly hindering FHIR and structured data efforts in Guatemala. The main concern is that AI is reducing the perceived need to invest in structured health data.

Despite this trend, contributors strongly disagree with the idea that AI removes the need for structured data like FHIR.

Challenges

The main challenges facing FHIR adoption in Guatemala include:

  • Unclear benefits: The value of FHIR is not well understood.
  • Unclear regulations: There is no clear regulatory direction.
  • Lack of FHIR knowledge: Local expertise is limited.
  • Changes in political direction: Shifting priorities make long-term planning difficult.

FHIR software use leans toward proprietary solutions rather than open source.

Future Plans

Progress over the past year has been less than expected, and satisfaction with the current adoption rate is very low.

Key achievement so far:

  • Establishment of a national standards organization

Expected next steps in the coming year:

  • New regulation that prescribes the use of standards in electronic health data exchange
  • Launch of pilot projects with selected healthcare stakeholders
  • Expanded adoption of FHIR across the healthcare ecosystem

Contributors feel neutral about whether Guatemala will reap the benefits of FHIR adoption within the next three years.

Contributors

  • Daniel Otzoy, HL7 CAM (HL7 International Affiliate)

The above summary is based on the answers to the State of FHIR Survey 2026, organized by Firely and HL7 International.