In Poland, FHIR is used for a few specific healthcare data exchange use cases. It is not yet the main standard, but it is gaining ground.

The FHIR versions currently in use vary. R5 is the most active version, while R4 and R4B see some adoption. STU3 and the pre-release R6 are used in limited cases.

Looking ahead, Poland expects a strong increase in FHIR adoption in the coming years.

Rules and Support

Poland has regulations that require the use of standards for electronic health data exchange. Here is what you need to know:

  • Standards mandate: Yes, regulation is in place.
  • FHIR requirement: FHIR is specifically mandated.
  • Deadline: Yes, a compliance deadline is included.
  • Fines for non-compliance: Unknown.
  • Government funding for FHIR: No dedicated funds are available.

One key example is the requirement to report medical events to the central system (known as P1).

It is also worth noting that HL7 CDA (a Polish national implementation guide) is the mandatory format for certain types of clinical documents in electronic form.

National Setup

Poland has a clear national structure supporting health data standards:

  • National standards organization: The Centrum e-Zdrowia (Center for e-Health). Visit their site at cez.gov.pl.
  • Base FHIR implementation guide: A national core guide is currently under development. You can follow its progress at the Polish FHIR Base IG.
  • National FHIR terminology server: Not yet available, but it is in the planning stage.

There is currently no known activity around the FHIR Community Process (FCP) in Poland.

Active Use Cases

FHIR specifications are being developed in Poland for several focused areas:

  • Terminology
  • Diagnostic orders and reports
  • Imaging
  • Provider directory
  • Invoice and claim

For international alignment, Poland builds on European Implementation Guides as a basis for its national FHIR work.

Who's Using FHIR

The main organizations adopting FHIR in Poland include:

  • Care providers
  • EHR (Electronic Health Record) system vendors
  • Diagnostic system vendors, such as imaging and lab providers
  • App developers
  • Government agencies

The main reasons driving adoption are:

  • Regulation and grants
  • Innovation

When it comes to exchange mechanisms, FHIR Documents and the FHIR REST API (a way for systems to share data over the web) are the most widely used approaches. FHIR Shorthand, a tool for writing FHIR profiles, is also seeing solid use. FHIR Messaging is not currently applied.

Success Stories and Challenges

A clear success story in Poland is the reporting of medical events to the central platform. This use case has improved access to information across the system.

However, several challenges slow down wider adoption:

  • High investment cost
  • Unclear benefits
  • Unclear regulations

On the AI front, there is no noticeable impact on FHIR efforts yet. The view is that AI is not a reason to skip investing in structured data.

A use case to look forward to: FHIR-based diagnostic service catalogs.

Future Plans

Poland made more progress than expected in the past year. Key achievements include:

  • Development of new FHIR standards for specific use cases
  • Launch of pilot projects with selected healthcare stakeholders

Overall satisfaction with the current adoption rate is neutral. Open source software dominates the FHIR tooling landscape in Poland.

For the next year, expectations include:

  • New regulation prescribing the use of standards in electronic health data exchange
  • Development of new FHIR standards for more specific use cases
  • Expanded adoption of FHIR across the healthcare ecosystem

There is general agreement that within the next three years, Poland will benefit from FHIR adoption through cost savings, better care coordination, and a stronger digital health ecosystem.

Contributors

  • Roman Radomski, Chair, HL7 Poland

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