Connectathon To Focus On Certification Testing For HIT Security And Interoperability

Patty Enrado | Government Health IT | January 11, 2013

When participants of the 2013 North American Connectathon gather at the Hyatt Regency Chicago from January 28 through February 4, they will have the opportunity to test their products under a new certification program that ensures their wares are secure and interoperable with other health IT solutions.

IHE USA, a nonprofit organization that sponsors the Connectathon, and ICSA Labs,  an independent division of Verizon that provides third-party testing and certification of security and health IT products, have combined their core capabilities to deliver the new program, which is designed to align with current conformance testing to IHE integration profiles.

IHE USA has been developing profiles for interoperability for more than a decade. "It's great now to be able to leverage that body of work, but also to put a marker down and say here are the requirements for certification. This is the formalization of the process and the work that needs to be done to help move the industry even farther," said Joyce Sensmeier, president of IHE USA and vice president of informatics at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)...