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By John Hansen

Each year, the IHE Interoperability Showcase at HIMSS eclipses the prior year in size, number of participants and of course visitors. This year was no exception as the Showcase consumed over an acre of floor space in the exhibit hall and was packed all week with tours and prominent guests.

Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) is a grass roots initiative which began in 1993 with the sole mission of improving interoperability and integration across systems in healthcare. Two of the hallmark IHE events every year are Connectathon (described in a previous blog) and Interoperability Showcase at HIMSS. Connectathon is geared largely towards vendors (often times competitors) rolling up their sleeves side-by-side and integrating and testing their systems together using the frameworks provided by IHE known as 'Integration Profiles'. Connectathon is a very technical exercise with a noticeable lack of glitz and glam. Interoperability Showcase on the other hand, is where you can see interoperability on display using real world scenarios, patient stories and of course with the polish one would expect to see at a tradeshow like HIMSS. Integration between systems can be daunting, complex, costly and time consuming - a main goal of the Interoperability Showcase is to make complex integration challenges appear simple and easy to understand and implement using the frameworks provided by IHE. The Showcase was centered around ~30 real life patient stories in which the care for the patient was spread across 'communities of care' spanning care venues and systems. The demonstrations illustrated how data is shared across systems to facilitate the care process with each care provider having access to the entire set of data being generated throughout the patient episode.

A large emphasis this year was highlighting the relevance of IHE to the larger mission mission of the ONC (Office of the National Coordinator), the HITECH act and of course everyone's favorite - "meaningful use". ONC Chairman David Blumenthal gave a nice speech at the Interoperability Showcase surrounded by hundreds of HIMSS attendees, dignitaries, vendors and media (and located directly adjacent to Perceptive's demo station within the Showcase!). Below is a link to Blumenthal's speech in which, among other things, he describes the significance and relevance of IHE and interoperability to the ONC's mission.

I think this quote sums it up pretty well:

"If there is one lasting legacy of our work, I hope it will be the kind of accomplishment that the Interoperability Showcase is demonstrating".

- David Blumenthal
ONC Chairman
February 22, 2011
HIMSS Interoperability Showcase
Orlando, FL

SOURCE: Perceptive Software