Introduction
Interoperability enables information to flow seamlessly between different solutions and devices. When different parts of the health care system are interoperable with each other, they can “speak the same language.” Interoperability improves continuity of care, collaboration between health care providers and patient access to their health information. By breaking down data silos, it also reduces inefficiencies and redundancies within the health care system.
Connection, collaboration and communication have never been more important for the health care system. Increased use of virtual care has highlighted the need for safe and efficient electronic sharing of information across the circle of care. Continuing to improve Canadian health care will necessitate work in interoperability — connected systems are healthier systems.
In support of the provinces and territories, Canada Health Infoway (Infoway) is facilitating a national collaborative effort to advance interoperability. While there are many interoperability-related challenges, this specification addresses standardized sharing of vital patient information for the benefit of health care providers and patients using FHIR based information exchange. This FHIR based information exchange is similar to and accomplishes the same objectives as a Health Information Exchange (HIE).
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) defines HIE as:
Electronic health information exchange (HIE) allows doctors, nurses, pharmacists, other health care providers and patients to appropriately access and securely share a patient’s vital medical information electronically—improving the speed, quality, safety and cost of patient care.
While electronic health information exchange cannot replace provider-patient communication, it can greatly improve the completeness of patient’s records, (which can have a big effect on care), as past history, current medications and other information is jointly reviewed during visits.
Appropriate, timely sharing of vital patient information can better inform decision making at the point of care and allow providers to avoid readmissions, avoid medication errors, improve diagnoses and decrease duplicate testing.
Intended Audience
The intended audience of the CA:FeX Interoperability Specifications (Canadian FHIR Exchange (CA:FeX)), includes but is not limited to:
- Those interested in integrating healthcare information systems and workflows;
- IT departments of healthcare institutions;
- Technical staff of clinical solution vendors;
- Experts involved in standards development; and
- Software developers.
Purpose
The purpose of this document is to address the following functionality for release 1:
- Address two FHIR HIE use cases;
- Provide a detailed set of requirements (including actors, transactions and references to specific profiles and standards);
- Describe the implementation patterns that enable the exchange of clinical information using CA:FeX; and
- Describe the set of requirements that complement the set of IHE Profiles and and HL7 FHIR® Profiles required by the CA:FeX specifications with Canadian specific constraints.