Ensuring Conformance& Interoperability

NHIN Testing

Leslie Power, NHIN Testing Lead (Contractor)

Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT

WEDNESDAY, 2:30–2:50PM

What is the NHIN?

HIMSS 2010 2

A set of policies, standards and services that enable the Internet to be used for secure and meaningful exchange of health information to improve health and health care.

NHIN Specifications

HIMSS 2010 3

Transaction ProfilesUtilize exchange patterns for specific transactions

In pilot

Discovery and Information Exchange ServicesRely on foundations to enable exchange patterns

Patient Discovery HIEM Services

RegistryQuery &

Retrieve Docs

Messaging, Security, & Privacy FoundationsEnable private, secure, and interoperable communication of health information

Messaging Platform Authorization Framework

How to Approach Testing the NHIN Specs

» Within the network, two concerns must be realized:

• that each participating system conforms to the applicable NHIN specifications, and

• that each participating system can interact with the others

» Conformance does not guarantee interoperability, so we include two testing components:

• Conformance Testing

• Interoperability Testing

HIMSS 2010 4

Testing Process

HIMSS 2010 6

(Internet Employing CA/UDDI)

(Internet Employing CA/UDDI)

NHINInteroperability

Testing Lab

NISTConformance

Tools

1 2

Candidate System

Candidate System

Conformance Testing Tools

• Focused on validating a single system to single standards• To test conformance to the NHIN specifications• Downloadable testing tools that can be used during

development• Self-service via web• Tools keep result log, accessible via URI• Candidates enter success URI on conformance results form,

submit form for validation• NIST tools

HIMSS 2010 8

Conformance Testing

HIMSS 2010 9

Web-based

HIMSS 2010 10

Results

HIMSS 2010 11

Interoperability Testing Tools

• To test a candidate’s ability to perform common business activities with other NHIN gateways

• Testing based on scenarios – threading together individual test cases in basic business interactions

• Replicates common NHIN interactions

• Records candidate’s results

• Self-serve testing

HIMSS 2010 12

Architecture of the Interoperability Lab

HIMSS 2010 13

Candidate Setup Screen

HIMSS 2010 14

Reviewing Progress

HIMSS 2010 15

Reviewing Results

HIMSS 2010 16

NHIN Validation

Testing supports validation

• Testing ensures that potential participants in NHIN exchange operate in a way that conforms with NHIN specifications

• Conformance Testing

• Interoperability Testing

• Validation confirms testing results and is an input to consideration for approval for NHIN participation

HIMSS 2010 17

More Information

HIMSS 2010 18

Improving healthcare quality and efficiency by supporting secure information exchange

Email : nhin@hhs.gov Web: http://healthit.hhs.gov/nhin/

Thank You

19

The participation of any company or organization in the NHIN and CONNECT area within the HIMSS Interoperability showcase

does not represent an endorsement by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, the Federal

Health Architecture or the Department of Health and Human Services.