J. Dudeck, ASPECTS OF IMPLEMENTING AND HARMONIZING HEALTH-CARE COMMUNICATION STANDARDS, International journal of medical informatics, 48(1-3), 1998, pp. 163-171
Citations number
10
Categorie Soggetti
Computer Science Information Systems","Medical Informatics","Computer Science Information Systems
A variety of healthcare communication standards (HCS) have been develo
ped during the last decade. They have improved the interoperability an
d the connectivity in open hospital information systems to a large ext
ent. They have also reduced time and efforts during the implementation
of standard interfaces. However, the implementation of communication
standards is still far from the expected plug and play. The two reason
s which are the main cause the current drawbacks are identified-the la
ck of a standardized terminology and the restricted flexibility of the
currently used interchange formats. On the one hand the standardizati
on of the terminology can not be solved by the standards development o
rganizations. It is a general challenge for the medical informatics co
mmunity. On the other hand the movement to a new interchange format ca
n be initiated by standards development organizations. The application
of SGML/XML as an interchange format for communication standards offe
rs a much greater flexibility and adaptability to user needs than the
currently used interchange formats. Concepts for a smooth change to a
new direction are discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. Al
l rights reserved.