If it’s the end of January, you can only find our team of engineers and developers in one place: Cleveland – digging deep into interoperability testing at the IHE North American Connectathon.
As the only event of its kind with around 500 participants annually, we take part in an unprecedented opportunity for health IT vendors from across the marketplace to test real-world scenarios, uncover interoperability challenges, and then work together to identify and test solutions. Our company has come to rely on this as one of the most integral parts of our product development cycle.
We enjoy camaraderie and collaboration with many different health IT professionals all with the same goal of establishing connectivity and transferring patient data between their platforms. This collaboration provides an unequaled environment for product and interoperability testing, which facilitates quick resolutions to interoperability challenges. The experiences gained at the IHE Connectathon translate directly into improved efficiency in real-world deployments and interoperability.
IHE Connectathon participation is incredibly valuable from a QA perspective, as it cuts months of one-on-one testing from our product development cycle, particularly when one considers the access to and opportunity to interact with developers from entities such as CDC Cancer Registry, CDC Vital Records, ONC’s Healthcare Provider Directory and numerous EHR vendors. All of the IHE Connectathon testing is based on the IHE profiles that are the foundation of successful interoperability. We’ve seen firsthand how the opportunities and experience gained at these events increase our customer’s confidence in our interoperability expertise.
The rapidly changing landscape of health care delivery further emphasizes the importance of connectedness between all health care service providers. As health payment reform focuses more on care collaboration over services rendered, the importance of flexible software that can reliably exchange data with many different outside systems will become paramount in the longevity of health IT companies. Attempting to gain the breadth and depth of the experience offered at the IHE Connectathon by alternate means would require tremendous resources.
Aside from all of the benefits above, the IHE Connectathon is just a lot of fun with so many like-minded developers pooling ideas and resources together to see technology working as it should. It provides networking opportunities that have resulted in valuable business relationships that help to further our company’s interoperability goals.
Our team always comes back invigorated, with great stories, and ideas for new and innovative product enhancements. We’d love to hear your greatest IHE Connectathon win. And for those planning on attending, what interoperability challenges are you hoping to overcome? Send your ideas and challenges to @IHEIntl on Twitter or contact us directly at connectathon@ihe.net.
Ken Ostrowski
Director of Strategic Development and Marketing, Qvera
IHE North American Connectathon participant and HIMSS Corporate Member
