Implementation
General Implementation Guidance is provided on this page for people trying to implement software/systems that support IHE Profiles.
Profile implementation guidance is available for some specific Profiles.
Deployment Project Summaries outline several real-world IHE implementation/deployment projects.
Implementation Guidance
Change Proposals reflect modifications to a released Technical Framework or Supplement. It is important for implementors to monitor CPs and keep their implementations up to date.
Implementation Guidance for Participants in the North American Connectathon is maintained on a separate website but much of it is also useful to implementers who are not participating in the Connectathon. It is organized by Domain and Profile.
Implementation Tools
Development Tools
This section lists toolkits and reference implementations available in the public domain.
Test Tools for Connectathon Managers
The section Test Tools below describes a set of tools that are useful for individuals who want to test various IHE Integration Profiles. Software engineers who implement IHE Integration Profiles will likely select the tools that are relevant to their implementation. A unifying event is an IHE Connectathon. Connectathon Managers use many of the tools below to both manage Connectathons and test specific profiles. The table that follows lists a set of functions and how they are managed at various Connectathons.
| Function | IHE Europe Connectathon | IHE USA Connectathon | IHE Japan Connectathon | IHE RO (one domain) | IHE Eyecare (one domain) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| System Registration | Gazelle | Gazelle | Gazelle | Other | Gazelle |
| Test definitions / management / execution | Gazelle | Gazelle | Gazelle | Other | Gazelle |
| Monitor evaluation / test results | Gazelle | Gazelle | Gazelle | Other | Gazelle |
| Patient Registration: Affinity Domain Testing | Gazelle | Gazelle | NA | Gazelle | |
| Departmental Orders, Modality Worklist Provider | Gazelle | Gazelle | NA | Gazelle | |
| Conformance Tests: XDS family | NIST XDS Tools | NIST XDS Tools | NA | NA | |
| Conformance Tests: CDA Documents | NA | NA | |||
| Conformance Tests: PIX / PDQ messages | Gazelle | NA | NA | ||
| Conformance Tests: PCD messages | NIST PCD tools | NIST PCD tools | NIST PCD tools | NA | NA |
| Conformance Tests: General HL7 V2 messages | Gazelle | Gazelle | NA | NA | |
| Conformance Tests: HL7 FHIR(R) resources | NA | NA |
Validation Tools for Connectathon Participants
IHE has developed a growing body of software tools to facilitate testing and implementation of IHE Integration Profiles in healthcare information technology systems. These tools are available for download and licensed by their developers for free use. The links below point to sources with further information and direct access to download the tools.
A profile-by-profile Index to Preconnectathon Test Software is available here. These are the tools used as part of the pre-Connectathon testing process. They are referenced by pre-Connectathon test descriptions with explicit instructions.
A more general list of useful tools and tool kits, many of which are used for different aspects of IHE testing, was assembled by IHE Europe as part of the HITCH project.
Test Tools by Profile and Actor
The list of tools above gives you the location of the software and a general description of the scope of the tools. For testing a specific IHE profile, you may find it helpful to use these links.
IHE Tools by Profile lists each Integration Profile and provides links to the software and documentation.
IHE Tools by Actor lists each IHE Actor with links to the software and documentation.
In some cases you will find that two different software implementations are used to test a single actor.
Connectathon Milestones
Need to add a table, updated annually, of the Connectathon events in Europe, North America, Japan, etc.
See Also
Mailing Lists exist for all IHE Domains, most IHE Regions and most implementation projects (such as IHE Connectathons and IHE Demonstrations).