Topic outline

  • IHE Certified Professional – IHE Foundations

    The course at Technikum Wien prepares you for the IHE Certified Professional Program (IHE-CPP) - IHE Foundations Exam.


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  • 1. Orientation on the IHE Organization

    IHE is an initiative by healthcare professionals and industry to improve the way computer systems in healthcare share information. IHE promotes the coordinated use of established standards such as DICOM and HL7 to address specific clinical needs in support of optimal patient care. Systems developed in accordance with IHE communicate with one another better, are easier to implement, and enable care providers to use information more effectively.

  • 2. IHE Methodology


    Matthias Frohner, Project Supervisor HealthConnect

    IHE development activities are organized in domains. Each domain is covered by a Technical Framework specifying several Profiles, which organize and leverage the integration of health-related information by coordinated implementation of communication standards, as described in the IHE Wiki. See also in the IHE Europe Frequently Asked Questions: “How does the IHE process work?”

    A Technical Framework is composed of a set of documents, which are annually reviewed and published by technical committees according the annual cycles of IHE. New or adapted/corrected profiles are published or republished for trial implementation according to the IHE testing processes. In case of meeting successful testing criteria, the profile is then published as final text and integrated in the domain’s technical framework. IHE provides a structured process of testing for vendors adopting IHE profiles in their products or ganized around the Connectathon and Conformity Assessment. The Connectathon is a testing event for coordinated no-peer and peer-to-peer testing for vendors implementing IHE profiles in their products to enable adoption of standards-based interoperability. Monitors are technical IHE-recruited  specialists observing and evaluating the performed tests under the oversight of of the IHE test management. After successful testing at the Connectathon, a vendor becomes listed in the official Connectrathon results database for the profiles actors’ combinations successfully tested.  

    Vendors are also offered the ability to register  an IHE Integration Statement for one or more versions of its software product, for which the vendor claims implementation of one or more IHE profiles.For buyers that may not trust the claims made by the vendors for a specific product version, IHE International offers a world-wide recognized Conformity Assessment Test Report. IHE Authorized Testing Laboratories (accredited according to ISO/CEI 17025) can assess the conformity of vendors’ products with selected IHE profiles and generate a formal test reports.

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    • Main concepts and document structure of IHE Profiles and IHE Technical Frameworks (L2) Page
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    • Typical TF content Page
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    • Annual cycle of IHE domains and processes to develop IHE profiles Page
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    • IHE Process Page
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    • Profile proposal Page
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    • Profiles in Public comment or Trial implementation phase and their expression in supplements (L1) Page
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    • Profiles in Final text phase and their incorporation in Technical Frameworks (L1) Page
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    • Change proposal / maintenance (L1) Page
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    • IHE Connectathon Page
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    • Purpose of the Connectathon (L1) Page
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    • Process and tooling of the Connectathon from a tester perspective (L1) Page
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    • The Role of a Connectathon “monitor” (L1) Page
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    • Different types of testing performed at a Connectathon (Peer-to-peer, etc.) (L1) Page
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    • Integration statements Page
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    • IHE Conformity Assessment Page
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    • Use Case Driven Approach Page
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    • Quiz 2
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  • 3. Locate and navigate through IHE resources


    Stefan Sauermann, Program Director “Master Medical Engineering & eHealth”

    IHE offers a large variety of artefacts to be used by the community. On the IHE homepage the technical frameworks are available as the main source of information for those who plan and implement IT systems in healthcare. Additionally, on the IHE Google Docs site there are development materials and educational materials. In the Connectathon result matrix one can research which company has tested which profile at which Connectathon. This enables to identify companies who are actively engaging in IHE, and to see which profiles are used over time. The IHE Conformity Assessment testing reports of a specific product show to which IHE profiles this product conforms, as tested in an accredited CAS testing laboratory.

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    • Draw knowledge from IHE Domain material (Meeting information, Current work-items, educational material) (L2) Page
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    • Draw knowledge from IHE Technical Frameworks, Profiles (Supplements) and White Papers (L2) Page
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    • Draw knowledge from the IHE Homepage, Wiki, IHE Google Docs (L2)
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    • Perform simple and advanced browsing in the Connectathon result matrix (L2) Page
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    • Perform simple and advanced browsing in the Product registry (L2) Page
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    • Perform simple and advanced browsing for Conformity Assessment testing reports (L2) Page
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    • Exercises Assignment
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    • Exercises - Answer Key Assignment
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    • Quiz 3
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  • 4. IHE Example profiles, base standards, general healthcare IT knowledge


    Philipp Urbauer, Coordinator Research Focus “Secure Services, eHealth & Mobility”

    IT systems communication using IHE profiles is based on several standards from HL7, DICOM or other SDOs. These standards define requirements from syntactical and semantical point of view to share information. Therefore, a basic understanding of the differences between HL7 V2, HL7 V3, HL7 CDA, HL7 FHIR and DICOM is necessary to understand the technical environment of selected IHE profiles. These standards leverage base technologies like HTTP, XML, JSON, SOAP and RESTful architecture to a high degree, which requires knowledge of the basic concepts. Promoting semantic interoperability includes the application of code-lists and value-sets, and therefore knowledge of code-lists like SNOMED-CT, LOINC or ICD and its application, based on examples for HL7 V2, HL7 V3/CDA, DICOM and HL7 FHIR, is necessary. Implementation of IT solutions requires the coverage of Security & Privacy needs and IHE provides several profiles to cover basic requirements. A general overview about the most prominent Security & Privacy profiles shall be given. Knowledge of the top ten tested profiles on the level of Vol. 1, shall prove a general knowledge and understanding of IHE profiles and its application. 

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    • Usage of base technologies in IHE profiles: HTTP, SOAP, RESTful, JSON, XML services (L2) Page
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    • Base standards used by IHE profiles: HL7 V2, HL7 V3/CDA®, HL7 FHIR, DICOM (L2) Page
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    • Basic concepts of terminologies, ontologies, coding systems and value sets used by IHE (LOINC, SNOMED CT, ICD and HL7 code lists) (L2) Page
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    • Basic concepts of semantic interoperability on the examples of HL7 V2.X, HL7 V3/CDA, DICOM, HL7 FHIR: Where does which content go and how? (L2) Page
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    • IHE Profiles and White Papers which address the topic of security or privacy (ATNA, BPPC, ITI Access Control Whitepaper) (L2) Page
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    • The “Top 10 Most Tested Profiles” (as determined by looking at Connectathon statistics) on the level of Volume 1: Use-case covered by the profiles, actors and the transactions between them without options (L2) Page
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    • Drag & Drop – IT-Infrastructure Quiz
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    • Exercises Assignment
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    • Exercises - Answer Key Assignment
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    • Quiz 4
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  • 5. Accelerate Health Information Exchange Deployment


    Acceleration of health information exchange deployments is important to foster the integration of interoperable IT solutions. On a European level, substantial efforts have been undertaken in the EU Antilope project to define interoperability use cases based on profiles and standards. Due to the definition of common requirements, manufacturers can align their products to these common requirements, which reduces efforts in customization. Additionally, IHE supports testing of project-specific deployment specifications, based on IHE Profiles. This can be done in terms of so called Projectathons. The aim of this section is to understand and raise awareness of processes and tools which support efficient project deployments. 

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    • Understanding and explaining the layers of Interoperability as described in the IHE Interoperability Use Case Deployment Methodology Page
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    • Using IHE profiles in procurement as described in the COMMISSION DECISION (EU) 2015/1302 Page
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    • Using IHE profiles in the USA national Interoperability Standards Advisory Page
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    • Understand large-scale deployment testing strategies with Projectathons and deployed systems on-boarding Page
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    • Understand the role of Gazelle, IHE interoperability testing platform and its deployment (IHE-Services) Page
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  • Glossary

    “Appendix D: Glossary” is part of the general introduction to the content of IHE profiles, see the IHE Homepage on the Technical Frameworks page under “General Introduction and Shared Appendices”. This glossary is updated regularly as part of the IHE Development activities. 

    IHE Europe also provides a glossary.

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    • Glossary
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  • Abbreviations

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    • List of abbreviations Glossary
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  • The Exam

    Find details (e.g. registration, exam fees) here.

    The IHE Education Committee develops the IHE Certified Professional Program.

    GASQ provides the IHE-CPP – IHE Foundations online multiple choice exam.


    Key roles of contributing and/or performing of the IHE-CPP


    Source: 
    IHE Education Committee Processes Document



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