What is IHE?

"Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise" (IHE) fills the "gap" between the creation of e-Health standards and their implementation.  IHE is not "Yet Another Standard" but is the missing link between standards development and compliant implementations.  IHE supports vendors and implementers in effectively building compliant healthcare computing systems and interfaces based on global standards such as HL7 and DICOM.

IHE develops and maintains the IHE "profiles" which provide precise implementation specifications, based on established international standards, for specific health IT interoperability needs.  These profiles provide guidance that details required actions for health IT systems with many different functions to acquire, manage and communicate vital medical information effectively, while supporting efficient provider workflows and protecting private health information.

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IHE Australia Mission Statement

IHE Australia is an open not-for-profit initiative that supports the interoperability needs of e-Health Standards users in Australia.  IHE Australia is the official local deployment group of IHE International.  IHE International is endorsed by over 230 professional and Standards organisations, healthcare providers and vendors world-wide.  IHE Australia has local responsibility for the promotion and education of the IHE approach, the evaluation, localisation and creation of Integration Specifications ("Profiles") and the running of local conformance testing events ("Connectathons") according to the IHE International guidelines, ISO 28380 TR and Australian best practice.  IHE derives its Profiles from existing global and local standards, but is not a Standards Development Organisation.

IHE Australia supports the Australian e-Health Standards Implementer Community by:

• Managing a user-led and industry-driven IHE process to establish an agreed suite of fit-for-purpose Integration Specifications ("Profiles") for Australia
• Evaluating the existing IHE International Profiles against the requirements of the Australian e-Health Standards Implementation Community
• Localising IHE International Profiles according to agreed Australian requirements
• Creating IHE Australia Profiles to address real-world user integration issues based on Australian Standards, national e-health infrastructure and Australian best practices
• Educating and championing the importance of IHE Profiles for effective interoperability of standards-based systems
• Promoting IHE as the most effective process to achieve the interoperability of deployed systems in healthcare
• Developing skills and knowledge of the IHE integration testing ("Connectathon") methodology and tools
• Holding IHE Connectathons, Interoperability Showcases and other events to support the Australian e-Health Standards Implementation Community

Because of its critical function in the systems implementation life-cycle, IHE has since 2004 been supported by leading e-Health organisations in the Asia-Pacific region: HL7 Australia, MSIA, HL7 New Zealand, HISA as well as RANZCR and ADIA.

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IHE Australia Events

IHE Australia 2012 Events

The aims of the 2012 IHE Australia Connectathon were to test software vendors’ capabilities in establishing an XDS.b Registry and Repository and to test actors for Document Consumer and Document Source using test data, publicly available template summaries for the Australian PCEHR in CDA format, Patient Care Coordination (PCC) documents, and radiology images and reports (XDS-I).

IHE Australia 2011 Events

IHE Australia held a series of events in the week of 18 - 22 July 2011 in Melbourne:

• 18 & 19 July 2011: Connecting Health Services to the PCEHR/HIEs Workshop
• 20 - 22 July 2011: 20 - 22 July 2011: IHE XDSb Profile Testing Workshop
• 20 July 2011: HL7 Australia CDA & V2 Forum
• 21 July 2011: IHE Education Seminar

2010 saw IHE Australia again holding the annual Connectathon and Showcase in Australia.

In 2009, IHE Australia continued the successful series of annual interoperability demonstrations in Australia with a series of events that will enable e-health systems vendors, purchasers, users, healthcare professionals, etc. to:

• Learn and understand the concepts and practice of IHE
• Participate in the IHE Connectathon & Interoperability Showcase
• Observe and prepare for full participation in 2009

In 2008 the following IHE education events were held in Australia:

• "Introduction to IHE" Seminar on June 12, 2008 in Sydney
• IHE Interoperability Events Participants Briefing on June 12, 2008 in Sydney
• IHE "Cross-Enterprise Document Sharing (XDS)" Course on June 13, 2008 in Sydney
• IHE Connectathon "Open Day" on July 30, 2008 in Canberra
• IHE "Web Services Forum" on July 31, 2008 in Canberra
• IHE Interoperability Showcase on Aug. 30 - Sept. 3, 2008 in Melbourne

What is IHE Australia?

IHE Australia was approved as a National IHE Deployment Committee by the IHE International Board in February 2009.  It is governed by a Board and has a seat on the IHE International Board.  The establishment of "IHE Asia-Pacific" is now in progress.  For updates, subscribe to the IHE Australia e-Mail list.

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