Status of Interoperability Requirements related to IHE Integration Profiles in Finland

IHE (Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise) integration profiles provide means for uniform application of central interoperability standards for specific use cases in healthcare. The IHE model involves global development and local deployment of integration profiles. This paper reports the results of a national survey and a set of expert interviews which explored the current integration needs of healthcare organizations, application vendors and national health IT initiatives in relation to the requirements covered by IHE integration profiles. For several integration needs, the use cases of IHE integration profiles match the current needs of the respondents. IT infrastructure and radiology profiles received most responses, but also other domains or profiles such as laboratory, patient care devices and personal health records received interest. Based on the results, factors influencing the adoption of external profiles or implementation guides of standards for local or national projects are discussed

Variability of enterprise architecture elements in Finnish ePrescription projects

The governance of large eHealth initiatives is complicated by multiple viewpoints and autonomy of numerous different stakeholder organizations. In addition, the lifecycle of goals and requirements spans multiple different organizations, as well as various specification, development and deployment projects, application systems and products. Governance requires traceability of requirements and design decisions in the lifecycle of large-scale initiatives and between various levels of abstraction. Enterprise architecture (EA) approaches have been used for governance of complex and long-term intra- and inter-enterprise initiatives. We provide a model which we use to conceptually analyze variability of several EA elements throughout the extended lifecycle of development goals of projects related to national ePrescription in Finland. The analysis is based on case experience, material and interpretive methods in relation to nine projects. The analyzed elements and EA artefacts have been proposed as being especially central and relevant for many enterprise architecture initiatives. The results illustrate the differences in presence, plurality and abstraction level of central EA elements throughout the project continuum of ePrescription. The results highlight dependencies and transformations which are likely to be encountered in large-scale eHealth efforts in general. The results may be used to support the traceability and refinement of EA elements in the planning and governance of interdependent projects

Needs for Open Interfaces in Personal Health Record Systems and Citizen eServices – Results from a National Survey

Electronic services for supporting self-care, personal wellbeing management, communication between citizens and service providers, and citizen-centric care processes are developed in many countries and initiatives. Interoperability between these services and between them and information systems for service provision is increasingly needed. Open and standardized interfaces to support such interoperability must be selected or specified according to the needs of stakeholders in each project and environment. We report the results of a national survey related to the needs of open interfaces for self-care, citizen services and personal health records. The survey was performed using a web-based questionnaire focusing on the needs for open interface specifications. Interface needs were classified in nine categories. Respondents (n=23) represented health care solution providers / vendors, health service providers and research organizations. The majority of answers regarding the interface needs were in the category “great need for open interface specifications”. Most highly ranked were the interfaces for personal health record (PHR) information exchange and various needs related to identity and access management and care processes. The results are used as one basis for selecting topics for national collaboration related to open interfaces for self-care, personal health records and citizen-centric care pathways