On May 31, 2016, IHE USA submitted comments on ONC’s Final 2017 Interoperability Standards Advisory (ISA), specifically Section V, Questions 9-13. Below are the comments IHE USA submitted to ONC. You can read the full comments online.
- IHE USA agrees that the creation of this subsection within Section I of the ISA is feasible and can leverage the IHE Newborn Discharge Summary (IHE NDS) to identify relevant datasets to include in the Interoperability Need.
- IHE USA encourages ONC to explore the value within other IHE profiles that can be leveraged for the creation of Interoperability Needs related to birth and newborn data.
- IHE USA finds it important to point out the challenges that may arise in the implementation of birth record standards.
- IHE USA recommends that the ISA provide information on compatibility issues between different releases of HL7 FHIR and STU 3 and DSTU 2.
- The ISA should provide a hyperlink to Test Tools available for any listed standards.
- IHE suggests listing the following test tool for HL7 FHIR standard listed as an Emerging Specification: https://www.hl7.org/fhir/validation.html
- IHE USA also suggests sharing the following publicly available HL7 FHIR servers for testing: http://wiki.hl7.org/index.php?title=Publicly_Available_FHIR_Servers_for_testing
- IHE USA would also like to recommend the creation of a separate Appendix within the ISA with a list of all test tools that are available and referenced throughout the document to better allow navigation through the various test tools available to implementers.
- IHE USA recommends that the following standards be added to the Interoperability Need that the aforementioned IHE profile is based upon: HL7® Version 2.5.1 Standard, HL7 CDA® R2 Standard
- IHE USA would like ONC to expand its description to provide clarity on the intended purpose of this Interoperability Need.
- IHE USA also suggests including the specifications listed in Subsection III-E: Patient Identification Management (“IHE-PDQ (Patient Demographic Query)” and “IHE-PIX (Patient Identifier Cross-Reference)”) within Section II’s Interoperability Need.
- IHE USA suggests ONC work with each standard body to identify the best/preferred tool(s) to test interoperability needs listed in ISA.
- IHE USA recommends that Interoperability Need “Reporting Birth Defects to Public Health Agencies” in Subsection II-R be rephrased and expanded to “Reporting Newborn Birth, Health and Death to Public Health Agencies”.
Questions?
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