Interoperability and the NHS We Should Talk Martin Whittaker, Touchstone Consultancy Ltd
IT, Telecoms, Electronics industries in UK Healthcare Group 260 suppliers to health and social care sector Works closely with Department of Health (DH)
Interoperability is Hard Interoperability is Good
Healthcare Interoperability is Really Hard Healthcare Interoperability is Really Good
The story so far… Interoperability is not new National Programme failed to deliver the Care Record Service “Connect All” rather than “Replace All” Back to basics: Use interoperability that works Use proven standards rather than clever ones …hence the CFH Interoperability Toolkit (ITK)
ITK Principles Start with simple, proven interoperability Biggest gains are with local data (almost) Any interoperability is better than none
ITK Levels Level 1 – Plumbing Level 2 – Send what ya got: Word, pdf… Level 3 – Structure the envelope – HL7/IHE “Green CDA” Level 4 – Structure everything
The Verdict Intellect welcomes ITK, but…
Areas for Improvement Strategy Engagement Education Openness Compliance
The CFH ITK Accreditation Catalogue (yes, all of it)
ITK and Suppliers S e e n i t a l l b e f o r e I t w i l l b e t o o e x p e n s i v e... O u r c u s t o m e r i s t h e T r u s t n o t C F H U n p r o v e n W e m a k e m o n e y f r o m b e s p o k e i n t e r f a c e s W e ’ v e g o t a b e t t e r o n e L a c k o f o w n e r s h i p
Strategy How safe a bet is ITK? Is ITK part of the NHS Information and Technology Strategies? Timescales
Education The Trust is the customer It’s not just an IT project What are the business needs? Medical Director: improved patient care/safety? Finance Director: financial savings? Etc Who can educate?
Openness Everything must be public ITK User Forum Forget licence fees! Shared ownership fosters quick uptake Suppliers will reciprocate
Compliance Can be: Hard Difficult to pin down Expensive Negative Barrier to implementation
Compliance Should add value eg IHE Connectathon Suppliers in same room Proving interoperability Certificate states what works
Investment Sort out: Strategy Engagement Education Openness Compliance …and suppliers will invest
Interoperability and the NHS Available from We Should Talk Martin Whittaker, Touchstone Consultancy Ltd