Frameworks

IHE Technical Frameworks

IHE Technical Frameworks specify the technical details of the IHE Profiles.

Each IHE Domain publishes a Technical Framework used by engineers to implement IHE functionality. Official Templates are used for consistent layout and content.

Technical frameworks are published in volumes. The first volume typically defines each Profile, the use cases, the actors involved and the requirements for conformance. Subsequent volume(s) specify how to implement the transactions used in the Profiles. The last volume is usually reserved for National / Regional extensions.

Official Publication

• https://www.ihe.net/resources/technical_frameworks/
• https://profiles.ihe.net/ITI/

Public Comment Drafts

http://www.ihe.net/Public_Comment/

Public Comment Resolutions

Public Comment Resolutions describe how each public comment was handled (accepted, revised, rejected).

Maintenance

Change Proposals are fixes and clarifications which get incorporated into a Technical Framework.

IHE Technical Framework Official Templates and General Introduction & Shared Appendices

IHE International manages a set of document templates. These help authors make sure they have addressed the necessary material, and help readers/users by promoting consistency in how the information is organized and expressed.

IHE Technical Framework Templates

IHE Technical Framework Volume Templates

• Volume 1: Profiles - Word
• Volume 2: Transactions - Word
• Volume 3: Content Definitions - Word
• Volume 4: National Extensions- Word

IHE Technical Framework Supplement Template

• Supplement Template - Word
• Implementation Guide (IG) Publisher IHE-Supplement template

IHE White Paper Template

• White Paper Template - Word
• Alternatively, white papers can be authored in Markdown on GitHub and published in HTML

General Introduction and Shared Appendices

The documents contained at https://profiles.ihe.net/GeneralIntro/ are components shared by all of the IHE domain technical frameworks. Each technical framework volume contains links to these documents where appropriate. These documents will be updated on an annual (or as needed) basis.

General Introduction

The IHE Technical Frameworks General Introduction is located here.

Appendix A: IHE Actors

IHE Actor information is maintained in Gazelle Master Model. See the IHE General Introduction Appendix A and the Gazelle Browsing wiki page for additional information.

Appendix B: IHE Transactions

IHE Transaction information is maintained in Gazelle Master Model. See the IHE General Introduction Appendix B and the Gazelle Browsing wiki page for additional information.

Appendix C: Namespaces

See the OID Registration wiki page or Appendix C located here.

Appendix D: IHE Glossary

IHE Glossary terms are managed via the Standards Knowledge Management Tool (SKMT). A report can be downloaded from the tool for a "real-time" list of all IHE Glossary terms. The IHE Glossary is also published as Appendix D to the General Introduction and is available here. Please note that the published Glossary is current as of the publication date and that the SKMT may include additional terms. See the Standards_Knowledge_Management_Tool_(SKMT) wiki page for additional information.

Glossary Rules

Note: New terms from public comment versions of supplements are not in in the glossary; they will be added to the SKMT when the supplement moves to trial implementation. The published version of Appendix D is updated periodically as needed.

1. The following are not to be included in the glossary:
   1. Profile names or acronyms
   2. Actor names or acronyms
   3. Domain names or acronyms (e.g., ITI, PCC, DEV, Radiology, Patient Care Coordination, etc.)
   4. Transaction names or acronyms
   5. Domain Technical Framework names or acronyms (e.g., ITI TF-1)
   6. Words that are used in the standard dictionary sense (e.g., antepartum, antibiotic, anorexia, anesthesia, aperiodic, etc,)
2. For terms we borrow and use from (HL7, DICOM, etc.), reference the standard. For example:
   1. SCU: DICOM PS 3.5; Service Class User.
   2. Modality Performed Procedure Step: See DICOM PS3.3.
3. Standards are to be included in the glossary. For example:
   1. HTML: Hyper Text Markup Language
4. Organizations do belong in the glossary and should include a link to the respective web site. For example:
   1. ACC: American College of Cardiology. See http://www.acc.org/.
5. Limit the body of the definitions to briefly describing what the thing is, but avoid getting into IHE usage details that really belong in the bodies of the technical frameworks themselves.
   1. (TOO LONG) Modality Worklist: A mechanism defined to support the imaging workflow, by which the LIS provides the attributes of the imaging subject to modalities. In radiology, the imaging subject is the patient; in anatomic pathology, the imaging subject is a specimen derived from the patient. The Modality Worklist provides patient, order (study) and specimen identification and description to be included in the acquired images. Therefore the LIS needs to provide the attributes of the Specimen Module for each specimen being imaged. Therefore, the attributes of the Specimen Module have been defined in a ‘Macro’ construct, and added to the Scheduled Procedure Step Module of Modality Worklist. Conceptually, then, the Procedure Step is scheduled for the imaging of one or more specimen containers. While the use of the specimen attributes is optional according to the Standard for any Modality Worklist implementation, the APW profile requires their use for effective interoperability.
   2. (BETTER) Modality Worklist: DICOM PS3.3; A collection of Scheduled Procedure Steps which describe arbitrarily defined units of service that have been scheduled for an imaging device (such as a CT Scanner or a Pathology Whole-Slide Scanner).
6. For acronyms, include them as part of the definition of the full term. When the term is added to SKMT, the acronym will be added with an association to the full term (and vice versa). The report downloaded from SKMT includes an acronym field for each term.

Appendix E: Profiling

Standards Profiling and Documentation Conventions is published as Appendix E to the General Introduction and is available here.

Appendix F: Integration Statements

A brief discussion about IHE Integration Statements is published as Appendix F to the General Introduction and is available here.

The IHE IHE Product Registry enables developers to create, manage and publish Integration Statements for their commercial and open source healthcare IT systems. It allows users to browse for these systems based on their conformance with specific IHE Actors and Profiles.

Appendix G: IHE Implementation Materials

See Appendix G for information on where to locate IHE Implementation Material.

Comments on IHE Templates, General Introduction and Shared Appendices

Comments on the templates, General Introduction and Shared Appendices can be submitted at: http://www.ihe.net/Templates_Public_Comments/.

Information about the IHE General Introduction and Shared Appendices can be found here

See Also

Technical Framework Development Process for details on how they are organized and how they are developed.