How does IHE work?
IHE involves an intensive, ongoing process of collaboration and communication among key parties, which can be divided into four phases: • Problem Identification: Clinicians and IT experts identify common integration problems in access to information, clinical workflow, administration and underlying infrastructure. • Integration Profile Specification: Stakeholders select standards that address each identified integration need. The technical specifications for implementing these standards are documented in the IHE Technical Framework. • Implementation and Testing: Vendors implement these profiles and test their systems with software tools and at a face-to-face Connectathon, where they test interoperability with other vendors’ systems. • Integration Statements and RFPs: Vendors publish IHE Integration Statements to document the integration profiles supported by their products. Users can reference integration profiles in requests for proposals, simplifying the systems acquisition process.
