New health data standards gaining support

While standards will always be with us, sometimes one or two break out from the pack and gain more widespread support. Of late this seems to be the case with two, the Continuity of Care Record and the PDF-H. The CCR standard, an XML-based set of data used when patients move from one care setting to another, is being used for a growing number of RHIO efforts. At the same time, a more secure, healthcare-oriented version of the familiar PDF format, known as PDF-H, is also drawing attention. The PDF-H, which has support from a number of medical specialty societies, was co-developed by Adobe Systems and Intel. Right now, some EMR vendors can important CCR data and some can't. The PDF-H standard, however, will work as well with HL7's Continuity of Care Document as the CCR data format, as the PDF-H is meant to move data around rather than manage it within a system.

To learn more about these standards:
- read this Digital Healthcare and Productivity piece