Expert Views

Interoperability Showcase: A Unique Opportunity

Chris Harrison is Project Manager for the IHE Europe Interoperability Showcase. This will be a major feature of the World of Health IT Conference & Exhibition in Vienna, 22-25 October. Here, he gives a mouth-watering taste of what can be expected at the event and – more importantly – the resulting benefits.

The Interoperability Showcase at The World of Health IT ’07 will demonstrate a connected healthcare system, enabled by the standards-based Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) framework. Attendees will be able to create their own Electronic Health Record and access it across multiple healthcare settings within the Showcase. They will also be able to attend theatre presentations to gain further education on IHE and interoperability deployments currently underway across the various countries.

“I am extremely excited about the event,” says Harrison. “It will feature cutting-edge technology and standards that create an interactive environment where attendees experience interoperability of healthcare IT systems. It’s a unique opportunity for anyone interested in healthcare IT to see the theory of interoperability being put into practice.”

Interoperability will be demonstrated in existing Electronic Health Record (EHR) and other health IT products, including laboratory results, radiology images, medical summaries, referrals, and cardiology reports. Patient care devices (a new focus area for IHE-Europe) will also have an area, with three device vendors participating.

Moving on from the Connectathons

The Showcase will involve ten participating companies in the connected demonstration. This may not seem a huge number, but this is the first year for a connected demonstration in the Interoperability Showcase and space in the Austria Center in Vienna is limited. It will be Chris’s first Interoperability Showcase as Project Manager, although he has been involved with the IHE Connectathons in previous years.

“At the Berlin Connectathon over sixty organisations came together to prove and be publicly recognised that their healthcare IT systems can talk to each other effectively. My challenge is now to move on from this extremely useful academic exercise to stage a fully functioning demonstration of interoperability in a commercial setting.”

Despite it being his first Showcase, Chris is not focusing on the myriad of things that could go wrong.

“I don’t envisage any major problems. We know that the participating companies will be able to share their data; it’s a case of getting the logistics right during the week-long event; to ensure that ‘everyone is singing from the same song sheet’.”

For more information on the IHE Interoperability Showcase or the World of Health IT ’07 Conference & Exhibition, visit www.worldofhealthit.org

In his early career, Chris Harrison was involved in airborne remote sensing systems for the RAF. He then worked at the forefront of diagnostic imaging systems including the first MRI scanners in the UK. In the early 1990s Chris moved into the design and sales of PACS systems and worked in high-level sales project and management positions with MarkCare Medical Systems, Cerner and EMC. Fully committed to Healthcare IT, Chris currently is Industry Co-Chair of the IHE UK Technical Committee and is a member of the IHE UK Steering Committee.