WHO Forum on Health Data Standardization and Interoperability, 3-4 December 2012. Geneva, Switzerland

An interesting upcoming conference on eHealth (thanks to Reiner Banken for
sharing with me), and a summary of a past workshop on e-Health
interoperability and standards:

m.

PS thanks to Reiner Banken for sharing with me


*WHO Forum on Health Data Standardization and Interoperability*

*
WHO Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland. 3-4 December 2012*.

*
Announcement*  *http://bit.ly/Ooao0J* <http://bit.ly/Ooao0J>

Interoperability has been  recognized as essential to achieving the full
potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and medical
devices in support of health systems as part of the overall socioeconomic
development of countries. The eHealth unit within the Department of
Knowledge Management and Sharing at the World Health Organization is
leading this work in collaboration with technical programmes and member
states to advance the appropriate use of ICTs to deliver quality of health
services, reduce cost and achieve universal health coverage. Transmitting
personal or population data across ICT-driven health information systems
requires adherence to health data standards and related technology
standards for secure, accurate and timely exchange of data for healthcare
decisions.

Lack of data interoperability within and between systems developed by
technical programmes or member states not only hinders care delivery, waste
resources and leads to fragmentation of health information systems but at
times can also cause fatalities. Implementing health data standards to
achieve interoperability requires collective action by the Organization and
its member states. We have to face the challenge that many countries lack
capacity to participate in standards development and their implementation.

Participants invited to this forum include representatives from health
data Standards
Development Organizations (SDOs),  Member States, academic and research
institutions, implementing partners, donor community, and subject matter
experts concerned with development, adoption, and implementation of health
data standards at national and sub-national level in addition to WHO
technical programmes and regional offices.

*e-Health standards and Interoperability*

*A joint ITU-WHO workshop at ITU headquarters in Geneva, 26-27 April 2012*

Website: *http://bit.ly/KIvIHC* <http://bit.ly/KIvIHC>

“…………..The workshop gathered experts from the healthcare and ICT
communities to discuss means of leveraging today’s advanced communications
capabilities to achieve more efficient, cost-effective and equitable health
services worldwide.

Malcolm Johnson, Director of ITU's Telecommunication Standardization Bureau
(TSB) opening the event: "With a growing, ageing, population in the 21st
century, it is clear that one of the areas where ICTs can help make the
greatest difference is in the provision and delivery of healthcare. ICTs
are now understood to play a pivotal role in increasing efficiency and
quality in delivery of health care, and reducing risk and suffering,
particularly among the most vulnerable communities in developing countries.
However, in e-health unfortunately standardized solutions are rare.
Interoperability is a key determinant of e-Health’s efficient and equitable
rollout. This is not an area where we can afford to have costly squabbles
over proprietary technologies. International standards will bring down
costs, increase access, and improve efficiencies."

The workshop showcased innovative healthcare technologies and policy
frameworks already in force, and pointed to areas where interoperable ICT
standards could further stimulate such innovations’ development and
implementation.



At the event, the following actions were suggested to the various
stakeholders:



Suggested ITU-WHO actions:

- Joint policy brief on the essentiality of standards and interoperability
to the exchange of medical data, as well as outreach activities to educate
policy-makers and business leaders on the relevance and application of
e-health standards

- Creation of an e-health Working Group to advise ITU and WHO on steps to
be taken in the future

- Collaborate with other Standards Development Organizations (SDOs) to
create an information portal detailing all available healthcare standards
and best practices in their application



SDO actions:

- Coordinate with the new HL7 initiative on mobile e-health

- ITU and HL7 to develop a specification for the use of ITU-T X.1303 CAP
specification within HL7 to deliver health warning messages

- Consider effective cost models for e-health standards licensing

- Collaborate in the development of a common e-health standards roadmap;
ensuring no work is duplicated, and encouraging a converged view on the
structure of data and information in the e-health context



Points of relevance to the technical community (drawn from ICT and
healthcare sectors):

- Address interoperability challenges impeding the development of an open,
global infrastructure to enable the exchange of health information

- Begin development of an e-health standards ecosystem by addressing the
required functional features of e-health technologies, while at the same
time allowing these systems enough flexibility to evolve in line with the
development of new technologies or best practices

- The imperative to e-health that is Quality of Service (QoS)……….”

*Presentations at:* *http://bit.ly/TwtiVC* <http://bit.ly/TwtiVC>

       *
Thursday, 26 April 2012*

§       Welcome: Mr Malcolm Johnson (Director, ITU Telecommunication
Standardization Sector)
Workshop objectives: ITU, Bilel Jamoussi, Chief Study Groups Department and
WHO, Najeeb Al-Shorbaji, Knowledge Management and Sharing

§       Keynote: Laura De Nardis (American University, Washington DC, USA):*
e-Health Standards and Interoperability*
      *
Session 1: Country perspectives*

Inter-governmental panel bringing national perspectives from health
and information and communication technology sectors

*Chair:* Najeeb Al-Shorbaji (Knowledge Management and Sharing, WHO)


·       Eunju Kim (eGovframe Center, National Information Society Agency,
Rep.of Korea): SW Framework for enhancing the interoperability and
reusability of e-Health Services

·       Dominic K. Atweam (Ghana Health Service, Ghana):* **Ghana e-health
framework*

·       Adrian Pacheco (CENETEC, Ministry of Health, Mexico): *Mexico,
Country Perspectives*
[*Presentation*<http://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-t/oth/06/5B/T065B0000170013PDFE.pdf>]


       *
Session 2: Current focus, status and challenges: organizations working on
e-health standardization*

Chair: Bilel Jamoussi (Telecommunication Standardization Bureau, ITU)

·       Masahito Kawamori (Rapporteur, Q13/16 & Q28/16, NTT, Japan):* **ITU-T
Work on Standardizing e-Health*

·       Chuck Parker (Executive Director, Continua):* **Continua Health
AllianceBeyond Four Walls of Traditional Healthcare*

·       Elliot Sloane (Center for Healthcare Information Research and
Policy, USA):* **Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) - eHealth
Initiatives*

·       Christopher Chute (Chair, ISO TC 215):* **ISO TC 215 Health
informatics: Current focus, status and challenges: ISO TC215 and e-health
standardization*

·       Steve Mills (Chair, IEEE-SA Standards Board)

·       Catherine Chronaki (HL7 International Board of Directors):* **HL7
CDA and its broad adoption*

       *
Session 3: Barriers and opportunities to adoption: Stakeholders’
perspectives (Part 1)*

*Chair:* Leonid Androuchko (Rapporteur Question 14-3/2 eHealth; University
of Geneva)

·       Baljit Singh Bedi (Centre for Development for Advanced Computing;
Telemedicine Society of India, India):* **eHealth Standardisation in India:
Initiatives and Implementation Issues*

·       Sultan Shamiul Bashar (Management Information System, Bangladesh):*
**Barriers and opportunities to adopt eHealth standards and ensure
interoperability:perspectives from Bangladesh*

·       Shigeru Tomita (NTT DATA, Japan):* **Remote  Healthcare ICT  and
Mobile Healthcare ICT - Model Project  in Japan by Ministry of Internal
Affairs and Communications*
       *
Session 4: Barriers and opportunities to adoption: Stakeholders’
perspectives (Part 2)*

*Chair:* Gisele Roesems (ICT for Health, DG Information Society, European
Commission)* *

·       Jonathan Payne (mHealth Alliance):* **Mobilizing standards*

·       Miroslav Burša (Czech Technical University, Czech Republic):* **State
of Interoperability in the Czech Republic - Towards Personal Health Record:
Current situation, obstacles and trends in implementation of Electronic
Healthcare Records*

·       Basile Spyropoulos (Technological Education Institute of Athens,
Greece):* **Combining Medical-Managerial Information and Communications
Technology Standards to promote Interoperability in Health-Care: A Status
Report*

       *
Friday, 27 April 2012*  *
Session 5: Innovation** **trends: Academic institutions, companies and
research and development labs*

*Chair:* Nosa Orobaton (John Snow Institute)* *

·       Guy Dumont and Beth Payne (University of British Columbia, Canada):*
PIERS on the Move** **– Phone Oximetry for Pre-Eclampsia*

·       Yoshimasa Kadooka (Fujitsu, Japan):*
New heart care system based on UT-Heart for Tailor-made medicine** *

·       Masahiro Kuroda (NICT, Japan):*
Healthcare ICT in disaster-stricken area and hints to e-Health standards* [*
Presentation*<http://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-t/oth/06/5B/T065B0000170053PPTE.ppt>]

·       David Manset (MAAT, France):
 *Innovation Trends in Delivering eHealth Services*

·       Robert Istepanian (Kingston University, London):*
4G Health- The Long Term Evolution of** **m-health*
       *
Session 6: Identifying future needs: Health service providers and policy
makers*

Panel Moderator: Peter Murray (IMIA):*
Identifying future needs: Health service providers and policy makers*

Panelist:Misha Kay (WHO, Geneva):*
eHealth Standards and Interoperability* [
       *
Session 7: Advancing e-health standards: Roles and responsibilities of
stakeholders*

Panel Moderator: Marco Carugi (Rapporteur ITU-T Q3/13; ZTE, China)


If you would like to attend the Forum or for further information, please
contact the technical focal point for this meeting,
Dr Ramesh S. Krishnamurthy via email:
*krishnamurthyr@who.int*<krishnamurthyr@who.int>
.

Dr. Najeeb Al-Shorbaji Director, Knowledge Management and Sharing

World Health Organization
Geneva, Switzerland

*KMC/2012/KMC
Twitter* *http://twitter.com/eqpaho*


-- 
Michel Dumontier
Associate Professor of Bioinformatics, Carleton University
Chair, W3C Semantic Web for Health Care and the Life Sciences Interest Group
http://dumontierlab.com