IHE — Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise

What Is IHE?

IHE (Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise) is an international initiative that defines integration profiles specifying HOW to use existing standards such as HL7, FHIR, and DICOM to solve specific clinical workflow problems. IHE is not a standard itself but a set of best practices that guide the implementation of standards to achieve real interoperability between systems.

IHE profiles address specific scenarios: XDS (Cross-Enterprise Document Sharing) for exchanging clinical documents between institutions; PIX (Patient Identifier Cross-Referencing) for cross-referencing patient identifiers across systems; and PDQ (Patient Demographics Query) for querying patient demographic data. These profiles are the foundation for systems from different vendors to communicate in a predictable manner.

IHE organizes events called Connectathons where medical technology vendors test the interoperability of their products. HIMSS and all major enterprise health system vendors actively participate in this initiative.

Why It Matters in Healthcare

• Real interoperability: IHE profiles eliminate ambiguity in standards by defining exactly how to implement them in specific workflows.
• Reduced integration costs: Following IHE profiles simplifies interfaces between systems, reducing implementation time and cost.
• Standardized workflows: From imaging study ordering to report delivery, IHE defines each step of the process.
• Secure information exchange: Profiles such as ATNA (Audit Trail and Node Authentication) ensure data traceability and security.
• Connectathon validation: Vendors participating in Connectathon demonstrate that their products comply with integration profiles.
• Global adoption: IHE is recognized worldwide and is a requirement in many medical technology procurement processes.

How Davix Relates to IHE

• Davix follows IHE profiles for imaging workflows such as SWF (Scheduled Workflow) and PIR (Post-Processing Workflow) in its PACS/RIS.
• The HIS implements clinical document sharing profiles that facilitate information exchange between sites.
• The LIS uses IHE profiles for standardized laboratory order and result reporting.
• Davix's multi-site, cloud-native architecture benefits from IHE profiles to ensure interoperability between different locations and third-party systems.
• Davix participates in the standards ecosystem ensuring that its products are compatible with the integration best practices defined by IHE.

Explore Davix's interoperability at the HIS, PACS/RIS, and LIS product pages.