Monday, September 20, 2010

Milestones in Interoperability

On September 20, there were two important events that laid the foundation for future interoperability efforts.

The first event - ONC kicked off the Standards and Interoperability Framework, which is the successor to the HITSP's (October 2004- April 2010) activities. The new framework is described in detail with slides on Keith Boone's blog.

The new design incorporates a coordinated, parallel process of use case writing, standards development, standards harmonization, reference implementation, and testing, including all the tools and technologies needed to ensure that everyone participates and takes accountability for the deliverables.

Although the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) process will be used and Information Exchange Package Documentation (IEPD) will be produced, existing NIEM XML/Data types will not be used, enabling existing healthcare content, vocabulary, and transport standards to be incorporated.

The second event - CCHIT hosted a town hall on certification, rolling out their entire process and describing the tools that will be used to educate stakeholders about certification, the attestation that will be used, and the testing processes for EHRs, EHR modules, and Sites. You'll find an overview on the CCHIT website.

Later this week, I'll begin my review of the CCHIT Site certification materials that I'll use for BIDMC. As I've promised previously, I will share my experiences, costs, and timelines for Site certification on my blog.

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