Industry Standards
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) mandated regulations that govern privacy, security, and electronic transactions standards for healthcare information. These regulations will require major changes in how healthcare organizations handle all management of information, including reimbursement, coding, security, and patient records.
XIRIS™ tracks all access to patient information and provides a detailed audit trail. The information is then protected through a 3-layered security model, including a secure Internet firewall and role-based user access. XIRIS™ is designed as a turnkey solution, which includes hardware and software. The hardware provided gives the end user all the necessary tools for mirroring and the redundant storage of data. Because XIRIS™ is customizable, XIMIS offers several methods of data backup for all XIRIS™ systems.
XIRIS™ was designed and developed from the "ground up" to comply with HIPAA regulations, but in reality, it is truly the responsibility of the facility to become HIPAA compliant. Software development companies can only assist in educating their client in the awareness of HIPAA regulations. It is the sole responsibility of each facility to determine their needs in becoming HIPAA compliant.
Industry Standards
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) mandated regulations that govern privacy, security, and electronic transactions standards for healthcare information. These regulations will require major changes in how healthcare organizations handle all management of information, including reimbursement, coding, security, and patient records.
XIRIS™ tracks all access to patient information and provides a detailed audit trail. The information is then protected through a 3-layered security model, including a secure Internet firewall and role-based user access. XIRIS™ is designed as a turnkey solution, which includes hardware and software. The hardware provided gives the end user all the necessary tools for mirroring and the redundant storage of data. Because XIRIS™ is customizable, XIMIS offers several methods of data backup for all XIRIS™ systems.
XIRIS™ was designed and developed from the "ground up" to comply with HIPAA regulations, but in reality, it is truly the responsibility of the facility to become HIPAA compliant. Software development companies can only assist in educating their client in the awareness of HIPAA regulations. It is the sole responsibility of each facility to determine their needs in becoming HIPAA compliant.
DICOM
A joint committee led by the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) created a standard method for transmission of medical images and their associated information. DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) is the industry standard for transferal of radiologic images and other medical information between computers. DICOM enables digital communication between diagnostic and therapeutic equipment and such connectivity is important to cost-effectiveness in health care. DICOM users can provide radiology services within facilities and across geographic regions, gain maximum benefit from existing resources, and keep costs down through compatibility of new equipment and systems. For example, workstations, CT scanners, MR imagers, film digitizers, shared archives, laser printers, and host computers and mainframes made by multiple vendors and located at one site or many sites can communicate with each other by means of DICOM across an "open-system" network. DICOM has allowed for capturing and communicating medical images faster allowing physicians making diagnoses sooner for a quicker decision on treatment of patients.
Data consistency is a very important issue for radiology centers and thus, XIRIS™ offers DICOM Worklist Manager option for your center. Having the ability query from your modality or from your PACS for the list of orders for the day without having to type the patient demographic information minimizes patient data inconsistencies. For high volume centers, this option is indispensable.
HL7
Founded in 1987, Health Level Seven is one of ANSI-accredited standards developing (SDOs) operating in the healthcare area. Most SDOs produce standards (sometimes called specifications or protocols) for a particular healthcare domain such as pharmacy, medical devices, imaging or insurance (claims processing) transactions. Health Level Seven's domain is clinical and administrative data. HL7 provides standards for the exchange, management and integration of data that supports clinical patient care and the management, delivery, and evaluation of healthcare services.
"Level Seven" refers to the highest level of the International Standards Organization's (ISO) communications model for Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) - the application level. The application level addresses definition of the data to be exchanged, the timing of the interchange, and the communication of certain errors to the application. The seventh level supports such functions as security checks, participant identification, availability checks, exchange mechanism negotiations and, most importantly, data exchange structuring.
While HL7 focuses on addressing immediate needs, the group continues to dedicate its efforts to ensuring concurrence with other United States and International standards development activities. Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Southern Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United Kingdom are part of HL7 initiatives. Moreover, HL7 is an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) approved Standards Developing Organization (SDO). HL7 strives to identify and support the diverse requirements of each of its membership constituencies: Users, Vendors, and Consultants. Cognizant of their needs, requirements, priorities and interests, HL7 supports all groups as they make important contributions to the quality of the organization. The committee structure, balanced balloting procedures and open membership policies ensure that all requirements are addressed uniformly and equitably with quality and consistency.
IHE
IHE, Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise, is an initiative undertaken by medical specialists and other care providers, administrators, information technology professionals and industry to improve the way computer systems in healthcare share information. IHE promotes coordinated use of established communications standards such as DICOM and HL7 to address specific clinical needs in support of optimal patient care. Systems developed in accordance with IHE communicate with one another better, are easier to implement, and enable care providers to use information more effectively. Physicians, nurses, administrators and other healthcare professionals envision a day when vital information can be passed seamlessly from system to system within and across departments and be readily available at the point of care. IHE is designed to make their vision a reality by improving the state of systems integration and removing barriers to optimal patient care.
Optimal patient care requires efficient access to all relevant information. Despite the advanced state of technology, most healthcare institutions fall short. Many separate devices and systems gather and store patient information across the spectrum of care and often do not communicate effectively. Disentangling and reassembling the disparate strands of information is a daunting task. Institutions that succeed do so at great effort and cost. Not even the most advanced institutions have begun to realize the full potential of computer systems to reduce medical errors, improve the efficiency of care providers and enhance the overall quality of clinical care. To do so, healthcare demands a framework for information sharing that meet the needs of care providers as well as patients--and gains acceptance among the companies that build the systems they rely on.
Standards provide the materials for such a framework, but alone do not solve the problem. In any standard there are gaps, options, room for conflicting interpretations. No standard could map perfectly to the complex and ever-changing information domain of a healthcare enterprise. To fill the gap between standards and systems implementation has, until now, required expensive, site-specific interface development to integrate even standards-compliant systems. To close that gap a process for building a detailed framework for the implementation of standards is needed. IHE provides that process.
Care providers are hampered by systems that do not share information effectively. Often they struggle to get the information they need to provide optimal clinical care. Vital patient information may be missing or difficult to access. Aside from being inefficient, redundant entry of information leads to errors and mismatches that must be corrected or reconciled. Worst of all, care decisions frequently are made without a comprehensive view of current patient information.
IHE offers a framework for information sharing designed to optimize clinical workflow. Systems implemented in accordance with IHE can streamline the flow of clinical information, reduce errors and improve efficiency. IHE strengthens the information link between different departments of the enterprise--for example, between referring physicians and consulting physicians--to enable it to function as a single unit in providing optimal clinical care.