A national vision of a connected and interoperable healthcare infrastructure is one of the most significant healthcare industry efforts of the 21st century. HIMSS has taken a leadership role in making this vision a reality.
Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE, www.ihe.net) is a global initiative that creates the framework for passing vital health information seamlessly – from application to application, system to system, and setting to setting – across multiple healthcare enterprises. IHE brings together healthcare information technology stakeholders to implement standards for communicating patient information efficiently throughout and among healthcare enterprises by developing a framework for interoperability. Because of its proven process of collaboration, demonstration and real-world implementation of interoperable solutions, IHE is in a unique position to significantly accelerate the process for defining, testing and implementing standards-based interoperability among electronic health records systems.
IHE does not create new standards, but rather drives the adoption of standards to address specific clinical needs. IHE Integration Profiles specify precisely how standards are to be used to address these needs, eliminating ambiguities, reducing configuration and interfacing costs, and ensuring a higher level of practical interoperability. IHE is now truly multi-domain with Integration Profiles for Radiology, Cardiology, Laboratory and Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure, which enable interoperability both within and across multiple enterprises.
IHE - IT Infrastructure
The IHE IT Infrastucture Planning Committee has announced its roadmap for the next three years of development. In 2005, IHE introduces four new IT Infrastructure integration profiles that respond to the high priority interoperability needs addressing the privacy and security issues of health information exchange identified by stakeholders. After a public comment period, these new profiles will be published for trial implementation on August 15, 2005 as Supplements to the IHE IT Infrastructure Technical Framework for 2005-2006. These Supplements for Trial Implementation will be tested at the January 2006 IHE Connect-a-thon and demonstrated in at the 2006 HIMSS Annual Conference Interoperability Showcase. Experience gained at this demonstration will be used to enhance the Final version of these documents to be published in May, 2006.
IHE Connectathon
Interoperability Showcase 2006 Participation Requirements
IHE Presentations
(featured at the IHE Educational Workshop, Effective Integration of the Enterprise and the Health System, June 28 - 29th, in Oak Brook, IL)
A call for participation for the Interoperability Showcase at HIMSS 2006 Annual Conference and Exhibition in San Diego, California has been announced. Thirty-two vendors and 12 organizations participated in the 2005 Interoperability Showcase where 2300 conference attendees created and tracked their personal health record across mulitple vendor systems and health settings. Organized in a regional health information organization (RHIO) format, the 2006 Showcase will create a highly interactive environment to demonstrate practical interoperability across both the acute care and ambulatory settings featuring standards-based connectivity across the healthcare enterprise in support of an Electronic Health Record. Applications for participation are due September 15. For more information on the 2006 Interoperability Showcase contact Joyce Sensmeier MS, RN, BC, CPHIMS, FHIMSS at jsensmeier@himss.org. Vendors are encouraged to visit www.interoperabilityshowcase.org for more information.
IHE – Radiology
Until IHE defined a set of IHE Radiology Integration Profiles, there was no agreed method for the various systems involved (i.e., HIS, RIS, PACS, modalities, printers, workstations, etc.) to work together to manage typical patient care situations. The IHE Scheduled Radiology Workflow integration profile, combines ADT and Order messages defined in HL7 with scheduling, worklist, status notification, storage commitment and other services defined in DICOM. Today there are 16 Radiology Integration Profiles, which are published in the IHE Radiology Technical Framework and available on the RSNA IHE Web site for download and review at, http://www.ihe.net/Technical_Framework/index.cfm
IHE - Laboratory
The work of three International groups--GMSIH and HPRIM in Europe and JAHIS in Japan--has led to the development of a Technical Framework in Laboratory. Technical Frameworks, in IHE terms, are essentially guides for the careful implementation of standards to achieve effective systems interoperability. The IHE Laboratory Technical Framework describes an Integration Profile for Scheduled Workflow in Laboratory. You can access the documents via the Web at Volume 1 and Volume 2. Demonstrations that feature the capabilities have been held in Europe and Japan.
IHE – Cardiology
Industry members and professional society representatives have worked extensively to create the IHE Cardiology Technical Framework to convey the technical specifications for implementing IHE Cardiology. The Technical Framework document contains clinical use cases and technical specifications for the first three IHE Cardiology Integration Profiles:
- Retrieval of Electrocardiograms for Display
- Echocardiography Workflow
- Cardiac Catheterization Workflow
This document represents the first stage in an IHE effort begun in 2004 by the American College of Cardiology (ACC), the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE), the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC), the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) to focus on the integration of information within the cardiology department. The IHE Cardiology Technical Framework may be obtained at http://www.acc.org/quality/ihe.htm.
Latest News:
IHE and Continua Alliance Collaborate on Medical Device Standards
Home-based care and monitoring just became easier, more effective and more efficient with an agreement between Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) and Continua Alliance, two non-profit organizations focused on interoperable standards development.
Continua and IHE Collaborate to Strengthen Outreach and Message
The two organizations will work together on educational, interoperability demonstration and marketing efforts
SIIM Hosts First Referee Training Session for Connectathon
The Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM), a sponsoring organization of the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE), hosted the first-ever IHE referee training session at its headquarters in Leesburg, VA, on September 29, 2008.
