Introduction

The pan-Canadian Patient Summary - Companion Guide to Reference Architecture provides guidance on how to apply specific IHE patterns and pan-Canadian Interoperability Specifications to address interoperability needs pertaining to the Patient Summary-CA use cases. It defines the interoperability landscape and outlines the rules of engagement to support the development of a connectivity platform for which external vendors can test and validate their solutions.  

For more information on core IHE Profiles and specific Canadian implementation guidance, refer to the Reference Architecture available here.

Intended Audience 

The intended audience of the pan-Canadian Patient Summary - Companion Guide to Reference Architecture includes, but is not limited to, the following: 

• IT departments of healthcare institutions (technical product managers, IT managers, operations staff)
• Technical staff of vendors participating in the IHE initiative
• Experts involved in standards development
• Individuals and teams responsible for implementing software solutions such as project managers, CTOs, CISOs, software engineers, technical product managers, IT managers, operations staff, and other similar roles.

Overview

This document is a Companion Guide to Reference Architecture for the PS-CA. It contains a list of recommended IHE candidate profiles and pan-Canadian Interoperability Specifications that can meet specific needs of the PS-CA.  The sequence diagrams group together actors and transactions from multiple profiles to address the business requirements of the PS-CA use cases.

Within the Reference Architecture, two options for implementation have been highlighted, with Option 1 having two scenarios. 

• Option 1, Scenario #1: MHD implementation, where the Document Repository is Central
• Option 1, Scenario #2: MHD implementation, where the Document Repository is Local
• Option 2: FHIR HIE Implementation
• A preferred option is indicated with an asterisk* (e.g. Option 1, Scenario #1) 

For details about the Reference Architecture, refer to the Reference Architecture Release Information. 

How to Use the pan-Canadian Patient Summary - Companion Guide to Reference Architecture 

Below list summarizes how to use this document:

• Role Identification: Jurisdictions and vendors will need to identify their role (e.g. actors) from the Reference Architecture and sequence diagrams for each of the use cases in scope for the Patient Summary-CA project.
• Gap Identification: Based on the role(s) identified from the Reference Architecture and sequence diagrams, potential assessment is needed for identification of gaps for meeting the requirements of the standardized actors and transactions needed to satisfy particular PS-CA use cases. 
• Provincial Reference Architecture: Provinces and jurisdictions may need to draft their own version of Reference Architecture specific to their needs. Current technology landscape, existing architecture and current business priorities will help in developing a version for the province.
• Document Evolution and Feedback: This is a living document and will evolve based on feedback and refinements to the PS-CA uses cases and business requirements. This document is published on InfoScribe to capture comments and feedback from all key stakeholders. Additionally, multiple sessions will be conducted to discuss and update the content of this document.
• Vendor Conformance Testing (Connectathon / Projectathon): This document will provide an opportunity for vendors to prepare for conformance testing of the Patient Summary-CA Standard via the IHE Gazelle platform. IHE Gazelle is an open-source, web-based test platform supporting a wide portfolio of interoperability test tools suited to validate interface conformity to IHE Profiles and project-specific standards-based interoperability specifications. Vendors can validate their products and eHealth projects to procure interfaces they deploy. For additional information on Gazelle, please refer to the following link: IHE Gazelle

*Note: It’s expected that the reader should have a moderate degree of familiarity with IHE profiles, especially MHD, MHDS, PMIR, PIXm, PDQm, mCSD, ATNA, CT and IUA.