What is Azure Health Data Services?
Azure Health Data Services is a managed platform for healthcare data that supports industry standards like FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) and DICOM (medical imaging), unified in a shared workspace with common authentication and networking. It provides a foundation for building healthcare applications that need to exchange data across systems.
The former MedTech service, which transformed IoT device data into FHIR Observations, was deprecated by Microsoft as a managed Azure service in May 2025 and is being transitioned to an open-source model; existing instances in select regions remain supported until May 2028. For new IoT integration projects, check the current status and migration path in the official documentation.
The predecessor service, Azure API for FHIR, is retiring on September 30, 2026; existing customers should migrate to Azure Health Data Services. The service addresses compliance requirements such as HIPAA and GDPR and can be operated in European Azure regions.
Core Features
- FHIR service: Store and query clinical data using the HL7 FHIR standard (FHIR R4)
- DICOM service: Manage medical images (X-rays, MRIs, CT scans) via DICOMweb (STOW, WADO, QIDO)
- Events: Event-driven automation of data workflows
- De-identification service: Standalone service for removing PHI for research and analytics use cases
- Microsoft Entra ID integration: Enterprise authentication and role-based access control
Typical Use Cases
Healthcare organizations use this service to build patient portals, integrate electronic health records, store and view medical images, and analyze clinical data. It also supports migrating existing Azure API for FHIR workloads ahead of that service’s retirement.
Benefits
- Compliance support for HIPAA and GDPR out of the box
- Standard APIs reduce integration complexity
- Managed service eliminates infrastructure operations
- Integration with Azure AI services for clinical NLP
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference from Azure API for FHIR?
Azure API for FHIR was the predecessor service and is retiring on September 30, 2026; no new deployments have been possible since April 1, 2025. Azure Health Data Services is its successor, offering FHIR, DICOM, Events, and De-identification on an integrated platform with a shared workspace. Existing customers should migrate to Azure Health Data Services.
Which FHIR versions are supported?
The FHIR service in Azure Health Data Services supports FHIR R4, the current international standard for healthcare data exchange.
Is the DICOM service suitable for large image volumes?
Yes. The DICOM service is designed for enterprise imaging workloads. It supports standard DICOM operations (STOW, WADO, QIDO) and integrates with Azure Storage for cost-effective archival.
What happened to the MedTech service for IoT device data?
The MedTech service, which transformed IoT device data (e.g., from wearables or monitors) into FHIR Observations, was deprecated as a managed Azure service in May 2025 and is being transitioned to an open-source model. Existing instances in select regions remain supported until May 2028; check the official documentation for the current status and migration path before starting new projects.
Integration with innFactory
As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, innFactory helps you implement Azure Health Data Services: FHIR data modeling, system integration, migration from Azure API for FHIR, and compliance configuration.
Typical Use Cases
Note: All product information on this page has been compiled with care, but is provided without guarantee and may be outdated or incomplete. Cloud services evolve rapidly — features, pricing, SLAs, and availability change frequently. Authoritative and up-to-date information can only be found on the official product page of Azure (official documentation). This page does not represent an offer by Azure.
