Semantics Management for a Regional Health Information System in Italy by CTS2 and FHIR

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Information Management
• Regional Health Systems

Background:

• Developing a semantic management infrastructure is crucial for regional health information exchange in Veneto, Italy.
• Electronic health record management is a key focus within the region's information systems.
• Terminology services are essential for managing information flow in healthcare.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish an architecture for managing the semantics of laboratory reports within the Veneto regional health information exchange.
• To integrate and leverage established healthcare information standards for improved data interoperability.
• To address complexities of existing standards by adopting newer, more flexible ones.

Main Methods:

• Adoption of Health Level Seven (HL7) standards for the architecture.
• Initial development based on the Common Terminology Service 2 (CTS2) standard.
• Revision and integration with the Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standard to overcome CTS2 complexities.

Main Results:

• An architecture for managing laboratory report semantics has been successfully set up.
• The system is transitioning from CTS2 to FHIR, incorporating beneficial aspects of both.
• The integration aims to enhance the management of health information semantics.

Conclusions:

• The integration of CTS2 and FHIR standards offers a valuable approach to managing health information semantics.
• This hybrid approach addresses the limitations of individual standards, providing a more robust solution.
• The developed infrastructure supports the regional health information exchange in Veneto, Italy.