Query & Response for Public Health, published by HL7 International / Public Health. This guide is not an authorized publication; it is the continuous build for version 1.0.0 built by the FHIR (HL7® FHIR® Standard) CI Build. This version is based on the current content of https://github.com/HL7/us-helios-QR/ and changes regularly. See the Directory of published versions

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Official URL: http://hl7.org/fhir/us/ph-query/ImplementationGuide/hl7.fhir.us.ph-query				Version: 1.0.0	Highlight text changes?
IG Standards status: Informative Draft as of 2026-03-18				Maturity Level: 2	Computable Name: HeliosQueryAndResponseWhitePaper

Purpose

The purpose of this document is to assist public health agency programs in accessing healthcare data through FHIR-based query and response methods. It outlines the application of the HL7 FHIR RESTful API in public health agency data sharing use cases, improving access to vital public health data needed for functions such as case investigation and service provision. By leveraging existing FHIR API support, authorized public health agency programs can proactively access data held by healthcare providers and other sources. This approach enables efficient data retrieval through a standardized method, minimizing the time and effort required from data sources in fulfilling requests. Readers are encouraged to consult the base HL7 FHIR RESTful API documentation for a comprehensive overview of FHIR as a RESTful specification. FHIR-based querying is set to become a key component of efficient and scalable improvement to public health data and workflow support.

Introduction

FHIR Query and Response is a data exchange paradigm that streamlines the sharing of public health data. The HL7 Helios FHIR Accelerator for Public Health aims to support public health partners by helping them leverage use cases (see appendix A) through existing FHIR API functionality provided by EHRs and other health IT systems. Helios collaborates with implementers to test and pilot FHIR APIs, enabling access to patient data that was previously difficult to obtain without significant manual effort.

Benefits to Public Health

FHIR query-based data exchange offers public health agencies a transformative opportunity to streamline access to health information and reduce inefficiencies in manual data retrieval. Traditionally, obtaining patient data for case investigations, treatment verification, and surveillance involved time-consuming processes like EHR abstraction, faxing, and phone calls. Standardized FHIR queries enable automated, real-time access to relevant health data directly from EHR systems and other health IT sources.

By leveraging existing FHIR API capabilities, public health agency programs can:

• Enhance Efficiency: Replace manual data requests with automated queries, reducing administrative burden.
• Improve Timeliness: Expedite case investigation and public health agency response by retrieving authorized data in near real-time.
• Ensure Accuracy & Completeness: Minimize data entry errors or missing information through structured, standardized queries.
• Support Minimum Necessary Data Principles: Facilitate targeted data retrieval, ensuring access to only relevant and authorized information.
• Strengthen Public Health Outcomes: Improve disease surveillance, follow-up care, and outbreak response through seamless, timely data access.

With the growing emphasis on health data interoperability and regulatory support for standardized exchange mechanisms, FHIR-based querying is poised to become a cornerstone of efficient and scalable public health data access. Investing in this approach fosters collaboration across healthcare entities, optimizes resource allocation, and enhances public health agencies' ability to safeguard community health.

Contributers

This document is produced by the Helios FHIR Accelerator for Public Health Query & Response Priority Area. This group of volunteers examined potential uses of RESTful API queries to understand the approaches data exchange partners may adopt and to identify considerations for implementers. We thank all of the Priority Area participants for their engagement and contributions.

Although this document is developed for the US context, it may be relevant to other regions as well.

Dependencies

Implementation Guide	Version(s)	Reason
FHIR Extensions Pack	5.2.0	Automatically added as a dependency - all IGs depend on the HL7 Extension Pack
FHIR R4 package : Core	4.0.1	Imported by HL7 Terminology (THO) (and potentially others)
HL7 Terminology (THO)	7.1.0	Automatically added as a dependency - all IGs depend on HL7 Terminology

IP Statements

No use of external IP

Global Profiles Table

There are no Global profiles defined

Cross Version Analysis

This is an R4 IG. None of the features it uses are changed in R4B, so it can be used as is with R4B systems. Packages for both R4 (hl7.fhir.us.ph-query.r4) and R4B (hl7.fhir.us.ph-query.r4b) are available.