An Electronic Health Record (EHR) is a repository of information regarding the health status of an individual in computer processable form which is collected primarily to support the provision of integrated holistic health care to that individual but may also be used, subject to legislation and consent, for secondary purposes that benefit the health of the wider community.
In the increasingly complex environment of integrated patient health care, it is essential that information in the EHR can be shared between members of a multi-specialty and multi-disciplinary healthcare team, including the individual themself. This can only be achieved through standardization of those aspects of the EHR and EHR systems necessary for interoperability – particularly, the structure and broad content of the record but, also, the processes and technologies used to manage and exchange EHR content. Standards to ensure the unique identification of subjects and providers and the privacy and security of the subject’s personal health information are also essential for the integrity and trust of EHR systems. Such standards will enhance the flexibility clinicians currently value in how they record and view clinical information in health records.
The IT-014-09 EHR Interoperability Subcommittee develops and adopts standards that facilitate the effective sharing of EHR information. It also promotes the harmonisation and, where possible, convergence of EHR and related standards, including those now being developed internationally for the Personal Health Record (PHR) and PHR systems. The Subcommittee seeks to work jointly with other IT‑014 subcommittees on related standards for identification of individuals and providers, information privacy and information security, and semantic content (clinical terminology). A significant part of the Subcommittee’s activities include providing Australian input on proposed ISO, HL7 and other global standards that affect EHR interoperability.
The members of the Subcommittee include a range of stakeholders including consumer representatives and technical experts of international standing in the field of EHRs including some who are active participants and play leading roles in the three main international health informatics standards organisations, ISO/TC 215, CEN/TC 251, and HL7.
The Subcommittee anticipates that it will be reviewing and updating some of its standards activities to align with NEHTA proposals for development of an Australian Individual EHR (IEHR).