IHE Integration Statement

 

Definition

IHE Integration Statements are documents prepared and published by vendors to describe the conformance of their products with the IHE Technical Framework. They identify the specific IHE capabilities a given product supports in terms of IHE actors and integration profiles.

Users familiar with these concepts can use Integration Statements to determine what level of integration a vendor asserts a product supports with complementary systems and what clinical and operational benefits such integration might provide. Integration Statements are intended to be used in conjunction with statements of conformance to specific standards (e.g. HL7, IETF, DICOM, W3C, etc.).

IHE provides a process for vendors to test their implementations of IHE actors and integration profiles. The IHE testing process, culminating in a multi-party interactive testing event called the Connect-a-thon, provides vendors with valuable feedback and provides a baseline indication of the conformance of their implementations. The process is not intended to independently evaluate, or ensure, product compliance. In publishing the results of the Connect-a-thon and facilitating access to vendors IHE Integration Statements, IHE and its sponsoring organizations are in no way attesting to the accuracy or validity of any vendor s IHE Integration Statements or any other claims by vendors regarding their products.

IMPORTANT -- PLEASE NOTE: Vendors have sole responsibility for the accuracy and validity of their IHE Integration Statements. Vendors Integration Statements are made available through IHE simply for consideration by parties seeking information about the integration capabilities of particular products. IHE and its sponsoring organizations have not evaluated or approved any IHE Integration Statement or any related product, and IHE and its sponsoring organizations shall have no liability or responsibility to any party for any claims or damages, whether direct, indirect, incidental or consequential, including but not limited to business interruption and loss of revenue, arising from any use of, or reliance upon, any IHE Integration Statement.

Structure and Content of an IHE Integration Statement

An IHE Integration Statement for a product shall include :

  1. The Vendor Name.
  2. The Product Name (as used in the commercial context) to which the IHE Integration Statement applies.
  3. The Product Version to which the IHE Integration Statement applies.
  4. A publication date and optionally a revision designation for the IHE Integration Statement.
  5. The following statement : This product implements all transactions required in the IHE Technical Framework to support the IHE Integration and Content Profiles, Actors and Options listed below.
  6. A list of IHE Integration and Content Profiles supported by the product and, for each profile, a list of IHE Actors supported. For each profile/actor combination, one or more of the options defined in the IHE Technical Framework may also be stated. Profiles, Actors and Options shall use the names defined by the IHE Technical Framework Volume I. (Note: The vendor may also elect to indicate the version number of the Technical Framework referenced for each Integration Profile.)

Note that implementation of the integration profile implies implementation of all required transactions for an actor as well as selected options.

The statement shall also include references and/or internet links to the following information:

Specific internet address (or universal resource locator [URL]) where the vendor's Integration Statements are posted

  1. URL where the vendor's standards conformance statements (e.g., HL7, DICOM, etc.) relevant to the IHE transactions implemented by the product are posted.

  2. URL of the IHE Initiative's web page for general IHE information.http://www.ihe.net.

An IHE Integration Statement is not intended to promote or advertise aspects of a product not directly related to its implementation of IHE capabilities.