Seamless & Secure Exchange of Health Information at HIMSS 2006

Newswise —

Attendees take charge of their own health information and track it through the HIMSS Regional Health Information Organization (RHIO) on the exhibit floor at HIMSS 2006 FAST FACTS " 2006 HIMSS Interoperability Showcase-More than 3,000 attendees visited the 2006 HIMSS Interoperability Showcase. -37 vendors demonstrated 48 health information technology (IT) systems.-700 attendees created and tracked their own electronic health record (EHR).-63 educational sessions presented.-5 international delegations visited the interoperability showcase.-Three HIMSS 2006 keynote speakers toured the showcase.-16 clinical scenarios demonstrated interoperability across multiple products, EHR and personal health record (PHR) systems, and care delivery settings.

Interoperability became reality at the 2006 HIMSS Interoperability Showcase when 17 ambulatory and hospital electronic medical record (EMR) and PHR systems from different healthcare IT and management systems vendors shared medication, allergy and other diagnostic information in a structured and secured RHIO using standards-based specifications. With advance testing conducted at the Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) Connectathon (held in January), these EHR and other IT systems, which are used today in healthcare care delivery, were part of the showcase and positioned on the exhibit floor during the 2006 Annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Conference & Exhibition, held Feb. 12-16 in San Diego, Calif.

Thanks to the leadership of the participating physicians, nurses, IT professionals, and more than 50 healthcare associations and health IT clinical and infrastructure companies, 3,000 visitors to the 2006 HIMSS Interoperability Showcase witnessed the health information exchange of this HIMSS RHIO. This group came together to develop and implement a set of seven standards-based IHE integration profile specifications that were demonstrated as part of the showcase.

IHE - Changing the Way Healthcare ConnectsIHE, an initiative by healthcare professionals and industry to improve the way computer systems in healthcare share information, promotes the coordinated use of standards to address specific clinical needs. These healthcare standards have been developed by organizations that include:-ASTM International-DICOM " Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine-HL7 " Health Level Seven-ISO " International Organization for Standardization -IETF " Internet Engineering Task Force-LOINC® " Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes-OASIS " Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards

Systems developed with the IHE framework communicate with one another better, are easier to implement, and enable care providers to use information more effectively. The IHE Technical Framework is a detailed, rigorously organized set of documents that provide a comprehensive guide to implementing the defined interoperability capabilities. Read an overview on IHE for more information on this initiative.

The RHIO ConnectionThe Interoperability Showcase demonstrated health information exchange across the HIMSS RHIO, which provided a model for the announcement made by opening keynote speaker David Brailer, MD, PhD, National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONC). "It's time to support the maturation of our RHIOs and help them face their various challenges," Brailer said in his keynote address. "We have to be able to support them and provide guidance for how they can be replicated across communities." The federal government will begin a research effort studying RHIOs, which Dr. Brailer also described as "remarkable efforts," seen in communities across the country.

Dr. Brailer Visits the ShowcaseAt HIMSS 2006, Dr. Brailer visited the HIMSS RHIO Showcase and offered his perspective on the collaborative effort behind it. "I was impressed with the progress I saw in the Interoperability Showcase over the past year. I am encouraged by the vendor industry's demonstration of the real potential for interoperability. This type of collaboration is required for us to realize the potential for information technology in health care."

As evidenced in community RHIOs now active, the HIMSS RHIO provided the secured infrastructure where only authorized systems could share the encrypted patient health information and medical summaries, which included structured medication lists, allergy treatments, and other medical diagnoses, radiology and EKG images. The 16 different clinical scenarios featured health information exchange across a hospital, clinic, physician's office, radiology and other outpatient health settings.

The Value of the Showcase to Registered Nurses in Nursing Informatics:"The 2006 Interoperability Showcase was well attended by nurses at HIMSS because nurses are a part of the health information systems design, integration, implementation, delivery, education, and evaluation," said Kathleen McCormick, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, senior scientist/vice president, SAIC, and chair of the Nursing Informatics Working Group for the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA). Dr. McCormick toured the showcase during the conference. "The IHE Interoperability Showcase offers experience in linking systems within a hospital a city or a region. The lessons learned from the interoperability demonstration can be applied to many initiatives that nurses are team members in and leaders of. The nursing profession and the organized national networks of nurses in informatics can serve as valuable disseminators of the potential value of IHE participation."

Intel Chairman Craig Barrett Visits ShowcaseHIMSS keynote speaker, Intel Chairman Craig Barrett also toured the showcase and offered his perspective on it. "The interoperability showcase at HIMSS demonstrated what is possible when government, healthcare professionals, industry and academia collaborate," said Barrett. "The seamless exchange of health information throughout a connected, interoperable system leads to improved efficiency and better care. We clearly have the technology to achieve this type of system. What is needed is the widespread implementation of this collaborative effort to bring actual bottom line benefits to patients."

Physician/Vendor Attendees Saw Patient Safety Infrastructure Within the RHIO "The IHE-based RHIO was the most significant clinical accomplishment I saw demonstrated at the HIMSS meeting this year," said Joe Bormel, MD, MPH, vice president and chief medical officer for Quadramed® Corporation in Reston, Va. "The interoperability of clinical documents with required elements between dozens of organizations and vendors is exactly the requisite infrastructure to create patient safety within a community. It was inspirational to meet so many information systems professionals hosting, lecturing and demonstrating a pragmatic, shared (non-proprietary) implementation model."

"The showcase, leveraging the IHE framework, is proof that interoperability between health care information technologies has finally arrived," said Michael Stearns, MD, director of physician services, Greenway Medical Technologies, Inc. in Carrollton, Ga. Dr. Stearns was on-site in San Diego as well.

Other visitors to the showcase included Mark R.Warner, former governor of Virginia and keynote speaker at the conference; a congressional delegation from Washington, D.C.; Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Department of Defense, William Winkenwerder, Jr., MD, MBA; and international delegations from Denmark, France, Germany, Sweden and Taiwan.

Highlights of the Showcase:Highlights of the showcase included private-sector ambulatory or outpatient health information exchange with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense systems, and a demonstration on information system-based surveillance for bioterrorism by Bill Lober, MD, in the Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics at the University of Washington - Seattle. The showcase theatre extended the educational aspect with presentations from global industry leaders on standards and interoperability as addressed by case studies, national initiatives, regional projects, and IHE integration profiles. These presentations can be found on the HIMSS Web site.

The 2007 Interoperability ShowcasePlans have already begun for the 2007 Interoperability Showcase, which will be held at HIMSS 2007 in New Orleans, La., from Feb. 26-March 1. As interoperable electronic health records become more the norm than the exception in healthcare, the 2007 Interoperability Showcase will continue to demonstrate how the industry has come together to ensure exceptional patient care.

"HIMSS attendee interest in the Interoperability Showcase has more than doubled since two years ago when we were still teaching people how to say "interoperability." Now, they are clamoring for it and asking for more," said Joyce Sensmeier, MS, RN, BC, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, vice president, informatics, HIMSS. Sensmeier also manages the IHE initiative for HIMSS. "Expansion of the showcase for 2007 is expected to include health information exchange with medical devices, personal health record solutions, and financial and administrative systems for billing and claims attachments."

Leadership Level - 9Blue Ware, IncCerner CorporationGE Healthcare + IDX*IBM Healthcare & Life Sciences*Initiate Systems, Inc.InterSystems Corporation*Misys Healthcare Systems*Quovadx*Siemens Medical Solutions** Distributed Demonstration - 16___________________________________________________________________Implementer Level - 26Allscripts*Canon Medical SystemsCapMed, A Division of Bio-Imaging*Cardiac ScienceCGI-AMS*CompassCareCPSI*DictaphoneDR Systems, Inc.Eastman Kodak CompanyEclipsys Corporation*Epic Systems CorporationHIPAAT Inc.Hx Technologies, IncINFINITT TechnologKryptiMcKesson, Inc.*MedAccessPlus Health Informatics NetworkMedical Informatics Engineering, Inc.*MediNotes Corporation*MNINational Institute of Standards and TechnologyNextGen Healthcare Information SystemsPhilips Medical Systems*ScImage, Inc.Witt Biomedical Corp.* ____________________________________________________________________Supporter Level " 14Acuo Technologies Bond Technologies Carefx Corporation ClearCube Technology Dairyland Healthcare Solutions EMC Corporation IdentrusIntelMediServe Information SystemsMedKey CorporationMotion ComputingPicisPulse Systems, Inc.Sentillion____________________________________________________________________Organizational Participant " 12American College of Clinical EngineeringCatholic Healthcare WestDepartment of DefenseDepartment of Veterans AffairsDMP " French National Personal EHR ProjectHealth Level SevenHIMSS RHIO FederationHTP, Inc.IEEELiberty Alliance ProjectMidmark Diagnostics GroupUniversity of Washington____________________________________________________________________About IHEIHE (http://www.ihe.net) is a global initiative, now in its seventh year that creates the framework for passing vital health information seamlessly - from application to application, system to system, and setting to setting - across multiple healthcare enterprises. IHE brings together healthcare information technology stakeholders to implement standards for communicating patient information efficiently throughout and among healthcare enterprises by developing a framework for interoperability. Because of its proven process of collaboration, demonstration and real world implementation of interoperable solutions, IHE is in a unique position to significantly accelerate the process for defining, testing, and implementing standards-based interoperability among electronic health records systems.

About HIMSSThe Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is the healthcare industry's membership organization exclusively focused on providing leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of human health. Founded in 1961 with offices in Chicago, Washington D.C., and other locations across the country, HIMSS represents approximately 17,000 individual members and more than 275 member corporations that employ more than 1 million people. HIMSS frames and leads healthcare public policy and industry practices through its advocacy, educational and professional development initiatives designed to promote information and management systems' contributions to ensuring quality patient care. Visit www.himss.org for more information.

Visit http://www.oscareinzig.com/himsspressroom2006 for other images from the 2006 Annual HIMSS Conference & Exhibition.