The report mentioned here popped up a few days ago
EHR 'roadmap' guides providers through transporting content
June 30, 2011 — 9:59am ET | By Janice Simmons
To help healthcare providers and other stakeholders connect their electronic health records (EHRs) more quickly, members of HIMSS' Electronic Health Record Association (EHRA) have completed a white paper providing a type of roadmap for health data exchanges.
In the paper, EHRA notes that it has supported the development of recent interoperability standards at the federal level, but says that the focus mainly has been on health data content. Meaningful Use of EHR systems won't be realized, it says, unless attention is paid to the specific standards needed to transport this content.
The paper presents five primary "transport use" cases: the first three address point-to-point data exchanges, while the last two look at information sharing.
The objective of the white paper is to engage health IT stakeholders "in an open dialog about how best to achieve real interoperability" for the transport of health information. The overall paper represents the collective view of the 46 EHRA member companies that support the majority of installed, operational EHRs in the United States.
The white paper recommendations are based on the use of proven standards, EHRA says, and build on the work that has been done by Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise, the Direct Project, and the Nationwide Health Information Network.
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For more information:
- see the EHRA white paper (.pdf)
More here:
There is also coverage here:
EHR Firms Issue Roadmap for HIE
Joseph Goedert
HDM Breaking News, June 29, 2011
Members of the HIMSS Electronic Health Record Association, a vendor trade group, have developed a white paper that lays out a framework for health information exchange by connecting EHRs more rapidly.
"This white paper concentrates on mechanisms for actual data exchange by presenting five use cases and related scenarios, as well as the currently available standards required to support them," says Charlie Jarvis, vice president at NextGen Healthcare Information Systems. The approaches taken support Internet-based XML protocols connecting EHRs and providers, with opportunities to connect to public health agencies and state-based initiatives such as immunization registries, he adds.
More here:
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/ehr-hie-health-information-exchange-42729-1.html
The direct link to the download (33 pages) is here
http://www.himssehra.org/docs/20110629_EHRA_TransportFramework_Final%20.pdf
The big picture point the paper is making is that facilitating information flows is as important as getting the information into quality EHR systems.
To that all I can say is Amen!
David.
