Carequality, the public-private collaboration focused on seamless connectivity among healthcare providers, has released an interoperability framework to further secure health information exchange, according to an announcement.
Previously, health information exchange involved one-off legal agreements between individual data-sharing partners, which included lengthy and costly negotiation and inconsistencies in quality and quantity of data exchanged.
Using its previously announced principles of trust, this framework covers multiple elements, including legal terms, policy requirements, technical specifications and governance processes to enable data sharing. The legal documents include standard agreements as well as a recommended dispute resolution process.
"The beauty of the framework is that it's general; it can be applied to any type of content and any technical architecture," said Dave Cassel, director of Carequality. "The framework provides the governance and trust foundation required for any type of widespread connectivity in healthcare."
The effort initially focused on document queries because those capabilities are widely supported in the field, and the available downloads include an implementation guide for query-based document exchange.
Carequality is part of the Sequoia Project, a larger interoperability-focused effort that includes eHealth Exchange--a network of doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and other entities that exchange patient information.
The Sequoia Project recently teamed up with the Radiological Society of North America on a push for expanded image sharing by radiologists and imaging vendors. It also recently released a white paper with the Care Connectivity Consortium on a framework to improve patient matching.
To learn more:
- read the announcement
- here's the legal documents