WASHINGTON, October 26, 2025 — After seven years of development, a standardized way to translate decades-old public health data into a modern, accessible format is now available. The HL7 Version 2 to FHIR Standard for Trial Use was published in October 2025, a milestone that promises to unlock a wealth of information currently trapped in outdated systems.
Untangling a Legacy: Why Modernizing Public Health Data Matters
The new standard aims to bridge the gap between older data formats and modern healthcare technology, improving data exchange and analysis.
The effort to create this standard began in late 2018, coinciding with the start of work at Audacious Inquiry. One of the initial projects undertaken was the creation of a V2 to FHIR Converter, which was subsequently provided to several customers. The team at Audacious contributed the mappings they developed – largely through the efforts of a product owner and team members, with support from HL7 V2 interface developers – to the project in early 2019. These mappings formed the foundation for the HL7 V2 to FHIR guide.
What’s the big deal? Converting legacy data into FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) allows public health agencies to access information through modern APIs, enabling better tracking of disease outbreaks, more efficient resource allocation, and improved population health management.
A Seven-Year Journey to Standardization
The process of developing the standard involved a significant undertaking: translating nearly 400 spreadsheets into over 250 FHIR ConceptMap resources. This required not only technical expertise but also meticulous attention to detail to ensure the accuracy and consistency of the mappings. More recently, the focus shifted to maintaining the V2 to FHIR IG generator code base and conducting detailed technical reviews to verify that the content could be accessed in a computable form.
Teams are now working to transform the output of this guide into a Data Modernization offering for public health, enabling the conversion of legacy data into FHIR resources accessible through modern APIs. A new software base supporting V2 and CDA to FHIR conversions is under development and will be showcased at HIMSS 26.
- The HL7 Version 2 to FHIR Standard for Trial Use was published in October 2025.
- The standard facilitates the conversion of older public health data formats into a modern, accessible format.
- The project began in late 2018 and involved translating a large volume of data into FHIR resources.
- New software is being developed to support V2 and CDA to FHIR conversions, to be presented at HIMSS 26.
This publication represents a crucial step toward a more interoperable and data-driven public health system, promising to improve the ability to respond to health challenges and protect communities.
