FTSnext (FHIR Transfer Services) is a software system that securely transfers healthcare data between clinical and research domains using FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) standards. While initially designed for the SMITH architecture, its framework is adaptable for broader applications in any healthcare data sharing scenario.
At its core are three components — Clinical Domain Agent, Research Domain Agent, and Trust Center Agent — working together to maintain privacy by ensuring the Trust Center manages IDs without accessing medical content, while researchers receive only the data they need without the ability to link it back to clinical sources. This elegant design enables valuable research while robustly protecting patient privacy.
The CDA is designed to handle the secure deidentification, pseudonymization and transfer of clinical FHIR resources. It ensures that sensitive patient information is appropriately anonymized before being transferred between systems, supporting interoperability in healthcare while safeguarding patient privacy. It plays a crucial role in the overall data transfer process, working in collaboration with the Research Domain Agent (RDA) and Trust Center Agent (TCA) to facilitate controlled and privacy-aware data exchange.
The TCA serves as a critical component responsible for managing trust and security aspects during the data transfer process. It plays a central role in pseudonymization and deidentification, coordinating with external services such as gPAS and gics, and ensuring the secure exchange of pseudonyms between the Clinical Domain Agent (CDA) and Research Domain Agent (RDA).
The RDA manages the secure transfer of deidentified research-focused FHIR resources. It is responsible for receiving and processing deidentified data from the Clinical Domain Agent (CDA) and facilitating its integration into research FHIR servers. By ensuring compliance with the SMITH architecture, RDA supports the interoperability of research data while preserving patient confidentiality.
Please see the official docs page for documentation on how to install and use FTSnext. Feel free to contribute by providing feedback or develop the software, see our contributing guidelines on how to participate.