Health Information Exchange and Beyond: Cross-Standard Data Federation.

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Computer Science

Background:

• Federated approaches to Health Information Exchange (HIE) often mandate specific standards.
• Existing literature lacks comprehensive strategies for cross-standard HIE in federated networks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review data classes and standards for HIE.
• To develop and assess a cross-standard HIE approach within a federated system.
• To evaluate "query and retrieve" and "store" operations in this federated setting.

Main Methods:

• Review of Health Information Exchange (HIE) data classes and content/metadata standards.
• Development of a cross-standard HIE framework for federated networks.
• Assessment of federated query, retrieve, and store operations.

Main Results:

• A cross-standard HIE approach based on federation was successfully implemented.
• The system integrated over 100 hospitals with varying technical capabilities.
• Four distinct interfacing standards were utilized: mobile IHE profiles, HL7 V2 messages, HL7 FHIR resources, and IHE profiles.

Conclusions:

• Federated, cross-standard HIE is a viable and effective solution for diverse hospital environments.
• The implemented approach accommodates multiple healthcare data standards, enhancing interoperability.
• Successful large-scale deployment demonstrates the robustness of the federated cross-standard HIE model.