Kodjin vs. HAPI: A Comprehensive Comparison of FHIR Interoperability Solutions

The healthcare industry's need for seamless data exchange has driven the adoption of the FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) standard, enabling healthcare data to be shared across diverse systems efficiently. Many organizations and national agencies worldwide choose the FHIR standard for improving data exchange and digitizing healthcare systems.

FHIR experts belong to a remarkable IT community. Despite the commercial interest of each company that provides FHIR-first products or services, FHIR experts regularly hold conferences and meetings to share their experiences addressing health data exchange challenges with the standard, revealing their unique approaches to various tasks.

Due to the constant exchange of knowledge, FHIR software development companies fill gaps in their products’ functionality by learning from other members of the FHIR community. Therefore, the top solutions on the market are similar, complicating the choice of an ultimate FHIR solution. A few years ago, creating a comparison chart to see the pros and cons of each product on the market was straightforward. However, thanks to the ongoing exchange of knowledge and experience, most popular FHIR solutions seem almost identical.

Although FHIR solutions are becoming more similar in functionality, significant differences remain in performance, scalability, and cost. Understanding these differences empowers you to make informed decisions. Today, we’d like to paint a clear picture of the distinctions between the Kodjin Interoperability Suite by Edenlab and HAPI FHIR by Smile CDR so you can make the best choice for your needs. 

Key Takeaways:

  • Edenlab and Kodjin: Discover Edenlab’s suite of modern healthcare data management tools — including the FHIR Server, Terminology Service, Data Mapper, and FHIR Profiler.
  • Smile CDR and HAPI: Explore the role of Smile CDR’s open-source framework in the FHIR community, delve into the HAPI server’s features, integration with standard terminologies, and its capabilities for validating healthcare data.
  • Kodjin or HAPI: Find out the key differences between Kodjin and HAPI regarding installation, performance, validation, and other characteristics.
  • Making an Informed Decision: Learn how to choose the best FHIR-first solution for your project.

Edenlab and Kodjin: Leading with Top-Notch FHIR Tools

Edenlab is a software development company focused on healthcare data interoperability. Edenlab’s experts specialize in building solutions based on the HL7 FHIR standard for efficient management and healthcare data exchange. Kodjin, Edenlab’s flagship product, represents a comprehensive suite of tools designed for enterprise-level healthcare data management.

Kodjin Interoperability Suite Overview

The Kodjin Interoperability Suite offers a robust, scalable solution for managing healthcare data using FHIR. It includes the Kodjin FHIR Server, Terminology Service, FHIR Data Mapper, and FHIR Profiler, each designed to meet the demands of modern healthcare environments.

Key Benefits of Kodjin

  • Scalability and High Availability: Kodjin’s microservices architecture enables each component to be deployed separately, allowing the system to scale easily and stay available even during heavy use. This makes it a great fit for large healthcare projects that require reliability under high demand.
  • Event-Driven Architecture: Kodjin uses an asynchronous event-driven approach (EDA) on top of Kafka, enabling real-time or near-real-time data processing. This architecture ensures swift task execution, making Kodjin suitable for dynamic healthcare environments where timely data processing is critical.
  • Data Storage: The suite employs different databases optimized for specific tasks. This setup ensures that data is stored and managed most efficiently for each purpose.
  • Advanced Validation and Data Quality: Kodjin includes robust validation mechanisms to ensure data integrity and compliance with FHIR standards. This includes structure validation, slicing, cardinality checks, terminology binding, and FHIRPath constraint checks, providing a higher level of data quality assurance.
  • Deployment Flexibility: Kodjin supports both cloud-based and on-premises deployments, with automated management and provisioning of infrastructure through an Infrastructure as Code (IaC) approach. 

Kodjin’s Toolset

  • Kodjin Terminology Service: Manages and integrates various medical terminologies, supporting both standard FHIR terminologies (like SNOMED, LOINC, and ICD) as well as custom code systems. It allows users to seamlessly handle operations such as code validation, value set expansion, and terminology mapping.
  • Kodjin Data Mapper: Converts healthcare data from various formats into FHIR-compliant resources. It offers extensive customization through Liquid templates, allowing users to define the mapping logic tailored to specific use cases. 
  • Kodjin FHIR Profiler Tool: Streamlines the profiling process through features like syntax control, ensuring correct FHIR structure; validation, which helps identify and fix errors; and resource tree visualization, offering a clear overview of complex resource relationships.
  • The Kodjin Resource Browser: A free, no-installation tool that offers an intuitive interface for accessing and managing FHIR resources. It supports advanced search and filtering options, validates resources against standard StructureDefinitions, and allows direct updates and posting of FHIR resources to any server. The user-friendly interface enables customization of views and operations for a tailored experience.
  • The Terminology Console: A web-based tool for managing healthcare terminologies, offering real-time customization, detailed metadata, and bulk operations via CSV import, along with advanced features, such as designation editing and a JSON editor.
  • RMK CLI – Reduced Management for Kubernetes: A command-line tool for managing and provisioning Kubernetes clusters and environments, specifically for Kodjin FHIR Server deployments. It integrates popular DevOps tools like Helm, kubectl, and Terraform, offering a streamlined approach to cluster management, versioning, and CI/CD pipelines while adhering to GitOps and GitLabFlow methodologies.
  • Kodjin FHIRPath Helper: Enables users to perform advanced operations using the FHIRPath language for resource validation and manipulation. The custom operation $apply-fhirpath allows users to evaluate FHIRPath expressions directly on resources. By providing both the resource and the FHIRPath constraint, users receive a result indicating whether the resource satisfies the specified FHIRPath expression.

Kodjin offers a comprehensive suite of capabilities for managing, transforming, and interacting with healthcare data in an FHIR-compliant manner, with numerous case studies proving improvements in data sharing, accuracy, and efficiency in healthcare IT systems.

Smile CDR and HAPI: A Foundation in Open Source FHIR Solutions

Smile CDR has long been a significant player in the FHIR space, with HAPI (HL7 Application Programming Interface) as its core open-source FHIR implementation. HAPI has established itself as a reliable framework in the healthcare industry.

HAPI FHIR Overview

HAPI is an open-source Java-based framework implementing the HL7(R) FHIR(R) standard. It has been widely adopted for building healthcare data management systems.

Key Features of HAPI

  • Open Source and Extensible: HAPI FHIR is a solution for implementing the HL7 FHIR healthcare data standard. It is created by an open community, with the software available under the permissive Apache 2.0 license, allowing free use and modification for personal and commercial projects.
  • Server and Client APIs: The HAPI FHIR client allows applications to fetch or store healthcare resources on an external FHIR server. In contrast, the server API enables external applications to access or modify data within the system. The Plain Server module (aka FHIR Facade) supports creating an FHIR server endpoint linked to various data sources, including custom databases, clinical systems, or files.
  • Terminology Services: HAPI FHIR’s terminology services enable effective integration with standard code systems like SNOMED CT and LOINC. These services facilitate handling healthcare data by ensuring compatibility with these terminologies.
  • Validation and Conversion: The system manages the validation of large ValueSets, such as LOINC terminology, addressing issues like handling over 10,000 properties. Moreover, the HAPI FHIR’s Command-Line Interface (CLI) supports custom validation profiles, allowing users to validate FHIR resources against specific local standards through the “-l” parameter.

HAPI’s Core Toolset

  • HAPI Terminology Service: Manages terminologies, including CodeSystem, ValueSet, and ConceptMap operations. It supports FHIR operations such as $expand, $validate-code, and $lookup to work with and validate medical terminologies.
  • HAPI Validation API: Validates FHIR resources to ensure they meet official FHIR profiles and Implementation Guides. It supports error handling and validation against core specifications and custom profiles.
  • HAPI FHIR Client: Enables applications to interact with external FHIR servers for fetching, storing, and querying FHIR resources. It provides an FHIR RESTful API for building FHIR-based applications.
  • HAPI FHIR Command Line Tool (CLI): Enables users to manage FHIR resources, start local FHIR servers, upload terminologies, and migrate databases. It also supports bulk operations and can upload FHIR resources for testing, for example.

HAPI’s core toolset offers features for managing FHIR-compliant healthcare data. It provides tools for terminology management, FHIR resource encoding and validation, server interactions, and command-line operations to ensure efficient and accurate healthcare data management.

Kodjin and HAPI: A Comprehensive Comparison of FHIR Solutions

Primary differences between Kodjin and HAPI lie in their installation flexibility, performance, and adherence to FHIR standards.

KODJINHAPI
Installation FlexibilityMore specific to Cloud environments, although work is underway to simplify the process and expand its compatibility, such as through K3D.Offers broad compatibility across various platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, Docker, and cloud environments, making it easy to deploy and adapt to different systems.
PerformanceGenerally demonstrates high efficiency when managing even large datasets.Excels in its broader implementation of FHIR specifications, comprehensively adhering to FHIR requirements.
ValidationNoted to have superior validation mechanisms, ensuring strict and accurate data integrity.May require significant configuration to handle complex validation cases comprehensively, with the option to use interceptors for more advanced logic.

Both systems offer unique advantages, with HAPI FHIR being highly flexible and standards-compliant and Kodjin excelling in performance and validation. The choice between Kodjin and HAPI depends on your project’s current tech stack and long-term objectives. 

Hence, comparing HAPI and Kodjin scalability, performance, and other characteristics will not help determine if Kodjin is better than HAPI or vice versa since the “better” option is determined by how well a solution aligns with your specific project requirements rather than a general feature comparison.

FAQs

Where can I ask questions about HAPI or get help?

You can begin by exploring the HAPI FHIR Documentation, which offers “getting started” guides and sample projects for major features. Also, consider joining the HAPI FHIR Google Group, where developers and community members are available to assist you. The HL7/FHIR Zulip chat is another excellent resource, especially for general questions about FHIR.

How can I ensure data quality?

The Kodjin FHIR Server automatically performs five critical validations: structure, cardinality, binding, slicing, and FHIRPath. These validations are applied to all data, including bundles, to maintain high data integrity and quality levels.

How can I work with custom FHIR profiles, dependencies, and search parameters?

Kodjin allows you to seamlessly upload new FHIR profiles, custom search parameters, and terminologies via the API. This capability ensures adaptability to specific needs without causing any system downtime, enhancing flexibility and customization.

Post author

Andrii Krylov

Product Owner at Edenlab

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