PHIt Insights · Partner Kit

Integration, Data Trust & Client Onboarding

How an organization connects, exactly where PHI is seen and not seen, the FHIR exports and imports, and everything a client needs to get started — explained at the tech, practical, and business levels.

How It Works
Where PHI Lives
API & FHIR
FAQ
Get Started
Client Intake

The same engine, explained three ways

Pick the altitude for your audience.

For the IT / architecture team

Members engage in Reality Health Games; engagement (points, badges, microcredentials, drops, events) is written to Supabase (Postgres) with row-level security and an organization_id on every row. A nightly edge function serialises engagement into HL7 FHIR R4 resources (Observation, DiagnosticReport, Provenance). Member identifiers are replaced with a one-way HMAC-SHA256 token (privacy-preserving record linkage) and the 18 HIPAA Safe-Harbor identifiers are stripped. The de-identified, tokenized bundle is delivered to a neutral linkage service, which joins it to the partner's tokenized claims and returns cohort aggregates. Integration is via SMART-on-FHIR OAuth2 APIs, FHIR Bulk Data $export (NDJSON), or SFTP flat files for partners without a FHIR endpoint.

For the program director

Your organization gets its own branded space in the Academy. Your members play and learn; the system records what they do automatically. Each night, a de-identified summary of that activity leaves FFH. If you (or your payer) want to know whether it moved the needle on ER visits, missed appointments, or screenings, we match our engagement data to your claims data through a neutral middle party — using scrambled ID codes, not names — and you get back a report. You don't install anything. If your system can send a data file, that's all the technical lift there is.

For the buyer / sponsor

PHIt Insights turns engagement into proof of outcomes, in the health system's own data language, so it plugs into an HIE, a payer, or an EHR without custom work. It comes in three tiers: a free Community view (aggregate only) that surfaces gaps and resources; a paid Payer module that links to your claims to prove whether a program worked and what it saved; and a Grant engine the Foundation uses to measure and report outcomes to funders. Build once on a federal standard, reuse for every partner.

How an organization links in — the three paths

PathBest forWhat it is
FHIR API (SMART on FHIR)Health systems, HIEs, EHR-connected orgsOAuth2 secured FHIR R4 read/write endpoints
FHIR Bulk $exportPopulation-level programsNDJSON export/import of the whole cohort
Flat file / SFTPOrgs without a FHIR endpointCSV extract keyed to the privacy token

Every path carries the same de-identified, tokenized payload. No path ever moves names or claims into FFH.

This is the slide that closes the compliance review. It shows that identified data is never pooled in one place, and that the analysis runs on de-identified data only.

Where PHI is seen — and where it is not

Four zones. Identity never crosses a boundary; only scrambled tokens do.

Identified · FFH side

1. FFH Engagement

  • FFH members & their game activity
  • Points, badges, microcredentials
  • No claims. No diagnoses.
FFH sees this (its own users)
Tokens only · Neutral

2. Linkage / Honest Broker

  • Holds only the token crosswalk
  • Matches engagement token ↔ claims token
  • No names. No clinical detail.
Third-party linkage service
Identified · Payer side

3. Payer Claims

  • Payer's own members & claims
  • ER visits, cost, screenings
  • FFH never sees this.
Payer sees this (its own members)
Zone 1 tokenizes Zone 2 matches on token Zone 3 tokenizes
De-identified · aggregate

4. Analytics & Reporting — the only place the two data sets meet

  • Engagement linked to outcomes on the token, then de-identified (Safe Harbor) and aggregated
  • Small cells (n<11) suppressed; expert-determination review before release
  • Feeds the Community, Payer, and Grant dashboards
A qualified analyst / third-party researcher works here — on de-identified data only

So — do you see PHI at FFH, or does a third party?

You (FFH) see only your own members' engagement — the same data you already hold because they're your users. You never see the payer's claims or anyone's diagnoses.

The payer sees only its own members' claims — never your engagement identities.

The matched, cross-linked dataset is de-identified, and the person who analyzes it — an FFH analyst or an external researcher — works on de-identified, aggregated data under an expert-determination methodology (or a Limited Data Set under a Data Use Agreement if dates/geography are needed). No single party ever holds both identities together. That is the whole design.

Yes — there is a FHIR version of every export and import

FHIR R4, the standard mandated by the 21st Century Cures Act. Base: https://api.theforceforhealth.com/fhir/r4

Exports — FFH → partner (engagement)

DataFHIR resourceEndpoint
Engagement index / points / streakObservationGET /Observation?category=engagement
Badges & microcredentialsObservationGET /Observation?category=credential
Certified Patient scoreDiagnosticReportGET /DiagnosticReport?code=certified-patient
Ledger / audit trailProvenanceGET /Provenance
Whole populationBulk NDJSONGET /Group/[id]/$export

Imports — partner → FFH linkage (outcomes)

DataFHIR resource
ER / hospital visitsEncounter
Cost / claimsExplanationOfBenefit / Claim
Screenings (e.g., colonoscopy)Procedure
Missed appointmentsAppointment (status=noshow)

Sample — engagement export (tokenized)

// GET /Observation?category=engagement&_since=2026-07-01
{
  "resourceType": "Observation",
  "status": "final",
  "code": "engagement-index",
  "valueQuantity": { "value": 72, "unit": "index" },
  "subject": { "identifier": {
     "system": ".../token", "value": "tok_9f3a1c…" } }
}

Auth & non-FHIR fallback

SMART-on-FHIR OAuth2 client-credentials (POST /oauth2/token). Partners without a FHIR stack use a REST/JSON + CSV-over-SFTP path and webhooks — same tokenized, de-identified payload.

Frequently asked questions

The questions a client's IT, legal, and finance teams actually ask.

Does FFH see our members' claims or diagnoses?

No. FFH only ever holds engagement data for its own users. Your claims stay on your side; the two are linked through a neutral service on scrambled tokens, and the analysis is de-identified.

Is this HIPAA compliant?

Yes, by design. The reporting layer uses Safe-Harbor de-identified aggregates (not PHI). Any identified feed runs under a Business Associate Agreement with member consent. Nothing is pooled that would put both identities in one place.

What do we actually have to provide?

At minimum, nothing technical — your members just engage. To measure outcomes, your team (or your payer) provides a claims/utilization extract, either via FHIR or a flat file keyed to the privacy token.

Do we need an EHR or FHIR system?

No. FHIR is the preferred path if you have it, but a CSV over secure SFTP works just as well. No installation on your side.

How long to stand up?

A branded instance is provisioned in under 30 minutes. A first de-identified engagement export follows the first cycle; an outcomes readout follows once a claims extract and the data agreement are in place.

What about students and minors?

Student data is governed by FERPA and COPPA and does not enter the claims-linkage product. The household and outcomes linkage runs first on the consented adult population.

Who owns the data and the reports?

You own your organization's data and your reports. FFH owns the platform and the aggregated, anonymized Network-level metrics used for benchmarking.

What does it cost?

The Community view is free. The Payer analytics module is a paid subscription (per-member-per-month plus an analytics license), with an optional outcome-based component. Grant-funded delivery is scoped per program.

Get started — from first call to first report

Seven steps. Most of the effort is paperwork, not engineering.

  1. Discovery call. Scope the population, programs, and the outcome question.
    FFH + client, ~30 min
  2. Sign the agreements. BAA + Data-Sharing Agreement (reusable templates).
    Legal, both sides
  3. Provision the branded instance. Logo, colors, domain, program toggles.
    FFH, under 30 min
  4. Choose the data path. FHIR API, Bulk export, or SFTP flat file.
    Client IT (light lift)
  5. Go live. Members engage; nightly de-identified exports begin.
    Automatic
  6. Link outcomes. Claims extract joins engagement on the token via the neutral broker.
    Broker + payer
  7. First readout. Effectiveness report and dashboard access for the client's tier.
    FFH delivers

Client intake & onboarding collection

Fill this out on a discovery call to scope and provision a partner. In production it posts to /api/onboard (Supabase); here it assembles the onboarding record you can copy.

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Onboarding record