Lantern

What Is Lantern?

The Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®) Application Programming Interface (API) Monitoring System, otherwise known as Lantern, was created to help ONC monitor and publicly provide nationwide analytics about the availability and standardization of FHIR API service base URLs (“FHIR Endpoints”) deployed by healthcare organizations. Lantern gathers information from FHIR Capability Statements returned by these endpoints and provides visualizations to show FHIR adoption and patient data availability.

View the Lantern Dashboard

Background

The need to make FHIR Endpoints publicly available was first vocalized in the ONC Cures Act Proposed Rule, and later finalized in ONC’s 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule. The ONC Cures Act Final Rule requires that certified API developers maintain a list of the FHIR Endpoints exposed by API Information Sources (i.e. deployed systems) using their product.

How Does Lantern Collect Data?

Lantern queries the FHIR Endpoints that are published in lists made publicly available by certified health IT developers to establish endpoint availability (uptime) and monitor changes to the FHIR APIs that may signal noncompliance and accessibility issues.

Data Sources, Algorithms, and Query Intervals

Lantern gathers and combines data from the following sources and links the FHIR Endpoints to those products and organizations when possible:

  • FHIR Endpoints (discovered in publicly available Endpoint Lists)
  • The Certified Health IT Product List (CHPL) database for product and vendor information
  • The National Plan & Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) for provider organization information

For information about the data sources, algorithms, and query intervals used by Lantern, please see the available documentation.

Source Code

The code behind Lantern can be found on our GitHub page.

Visit the Lantern GitHub page

Support

For further clarification, or to report a data discrepancy please contact us at Lantern Support.

Report

Lighting the Way for FHIR® API Implementation: Solutions for Endpoint Publication and Discovery
 

Program Resources

 
ONC Tech Forum: Lighting the Way for FHIR API Implementation
Aug 18, 2023
Lantern is lighting the way on APIs. The public dashboard and database now includes endpoints published as part of ONC Cures Rule certified API requirements. Join us for a look at the current state, a discussion of how proposals in the recent ONC NPRM may impact endpoint publication, and what’s next for Lantern.
Meeting Recording View Meeting Slides [PDF - 12.9 MB]
 
Lantern Project Education Session
Jan 2, 2022
Lantern Project Education Session
View Meeting Slides [PDF - 1724 KB]
 
ONC Lantern Workshop
Dec 16, 2021| 2-5:00 PM ET
ONC hosted a webinar, led by members of the Lantern Project, to discuss recent efforts to advance patient access through standards-based APIs. Through the Lantern Project, ONC has worked with stakeholders on proposed guidance for certified API developers to conform to Cures Final Rule requirements on FHIR endpoint list publication. Participants learned more about Lantern and discussed the proposed guidance on making endpoint list publication more standard and uniform.
Meeting Recording View Meeting Slides [PDF - 2.8 MB]*
*Please note: in the attached slide deck and recording the e-mail address, alert-lantern@hitrc.org, is no longer active. Please e-mail lanternproject@hhs.gov instead.