Connectathon+2010++April+vendor+information

=Secure Message Delivery - Connectathon 2010 - Vendor information= Vendors and providers of eHealth messaging solutions are invited to participate in the 2010 Australian development and testing event for eHealth web service secure messaging according to the new Standards Australia Technical Specification for E-Health Secure Message Delivery (SMD). This event will take place in Canberra 19-23 April and will be run by IHE Australia for the Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) with the active participation of NEHTA and support by MSIA and Standards Australia IT14-6. In 2009 the Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA), NEHTA, and industry (MSIA/AIIA) agreed to support the development of an approach to health communication messaging based on Web Services. Work is underway to develop both the message transport standard and the message content to support key communication such as laboratory and radiology reporting, hospital discharge summaries/referrals/e-referrals. Other communication such as e-prescribing is in the pipeline. Web services will form a common transport medium for all of these types of message payload.

Incentive payments encouraging the use of electronic health systems are currently available to participating general practices. The current requirements for participation include one that practices must have a secure messaging capability which is provided by a vendor which meets the eligible supplier criteria (http://www.nehta.gov.au/pipweb/eligible-suppliers). The secure messaging profile is ready for implementation and is current in draft form as a Standards Australia Technical Specification (TS100133). The standard web service messaging profile supports “**interconnectivity”** between health IT systems, however it is only after the payload or message content has been standardised that systems will achieve “**interoperability”.**

**April 2010 Secure Messaging Connectathon Objectives:**
The focus for April Connectathon 2010 is achieving interconnectivity using the web service messaging profile according to the new Standards Australia Technical Specification for E-Health Secure Message Delivery (SMD). Vendor implementation is supported by online testing of messages during the development phase. . Vendors may additionally at their option, undertake interoperability testing using:


 *  Diagnostic reporting profile recently published as Standards Australia Technical Specification and /or the draft IHE Australia eReferral profile (see : http://ihe-australia.wikispaces.com/eReferral)


 * eDiagnostics Profile: // ATS 5201-2010 // //Australian diagnostic - Pathology and radiology - Reporting profile// can be downloaded for free from: []

Once developed messages can be tested in a laboratory situation by vendors using a “peer review” implementation testing process called a “Connectathon”. This event sees many companies setting up their systems in a virtual healthcare network and doing end to end testing in a confidential and supervised environment.

IHE Australia ([|www.ihe.net.au]) will be running the Connectathon using principles, practice and standards that have been used internationally for over a decade. The Connectathon testing will be overseen by a National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) accredited testing laboratory: the Australian Healthcare Messaging Laboratory (AHML). [] IHE Australia has run two previous Connectathons in Australia. IHE Australia is the national deployment committee of an international organisation made up of vendors, professionals associations and others interested in implementation of standards based eHealth communication systems (ww.ihe.org). The Australian sponsor organisations are HISA, MSIA, HL7 Australia, and RANZCR. Other members include ADIA, RACS, and HIMAA. The major objectives of this event are to:
 * Support the participation of vendors who have committed to the adoption of the Standards Australia specifications and subsequently listed as eligible suppliers for the PIP eHealth incentive. Forty seven vendors are currently eligible through a statement of commitment to move towards the adoption of the new messaging technology (http://www.nehta.gov.au/pipweb/eligible-suppliers).
 * Achieve standards based implementation of **interconnectivity** between clinical computer systems
 * Enable vendors **to validate the performance** of their systems and troubleshoot issues with other communication partners and the developers of the communication profile. The Connectathon is an engineering event which supports vendors to test and if necessary develop their products in a group development and testing environment.

Pre Connectathon process and time table:
Signed contract with AHML and payment || 24th March 2010
 * Activity || Date ||
 * Preliminary teleconference || 15th Feb 1300 (Sydney) ||
 * Preliminary teleconference (repeated) || 18th Feb 1300 (Sydney) ||
 * A technical workshop is planned by NEHTA to provide further information and support the process of implementation of the specification. || Week 1: March 2010 ||
 * Vendor list server support, wiki, and weekly teleconferences will be established || 8th March 2010 ||
 * Expressions of interest from vendors regarding implementation and testing of the secure messaging profile || 8th March 2010 ||
 * Standard registrations close || 12th March 2010 ||
 * The pre-testing environment, testing requirements and message profile will be made available five weeks prior to the event || 15th March 2010 ||
 * Late registrations close with late fee (50%)

26th March 2010 || || Wednesday 21 April 2010 || NB: Experience has demonstrated that companies who register late are less likely to successfully complete the Connectathon and will require additional management and technical support, hence the substantial late fee. Vendors who fail to complete implementation or pass the pre-testing will be supported (where possible and subject to availability of technical resources) at the Connectathon to finish the development of the secure messaging profile in a “master class” situation. .
 * Completion of AHML pre-testing || 8th April 2010 ||
 * Connectathon || 19th April – 23rd April (last two days may not be required unless testing not complete ||
 * A one day “Connectathon Open day” may be conducted as per previous years to demonstrate the process to other members of industry, users and government agencies. This is an opportunity to be seen to participating in Australia’s largest health interconnectivity/interoperability event.

Connectathon Process:
All vendors should be present **at the Connectathon in Canberra** on the Monday 19th April 2010 and connect their test system to the network, using a pre-allocated set of IP addresses, complete any pre-testing requirements and work with other vendors to test their communication profile. This is anticipated to take 2-3 days. Vendors who need additional time will be able to continue development and testing for a further 2 days. IHE understands that vendors may wish to reduce the time spent doing this testing, and will do our best to do so. High speed broadband will be provided to enable technical staff to continue to work on their “day jobs” during any down time in the testing process. Vendors will be allocated to operate in pairs for a set of individual tests (e.g. message sender or message receiver). Each set of tests will be completed against 3 other vendors covering the general use case of messaging using an intermediary service and messaging directly between clinical applications.

On completion of 3 sets of tests and verification by Connectathon monitors, a vendor will be eligible to produce an Integration Statement for each product tested. This result will be posted on the IHE Australia website and the NEHTA secure messaging site. A one day “Connectathon Open day” **( Wednesday 21 April 2010) ** will be conducted, as per previous years, to demonstrate the process to other members of industry, users and government agencies. This is an opportunity to be seen to participating in Australia’s largest health interconnectivity/interoperability event.

All participants sign an NDA covering the process of the Connectathon. Information about unsuccessful testing is not disclosed. Vendors will have an opportunity to re-test at the next regular IHE Connectathon to be held in July 2010 (note this event is designed primarily for vendors who are testing against IHE international profiles and will not be an alternative to participation at the April 2010 Connectathon).

Benefits to vendors
It is clear that there is value and benefit to the IT industry to be gained by a more rigorous standards development and implementation process. There is a track record of varied implementation of standards for messaging, resulting in costs to industry in running their own message quality testing and troubleshooting implementation problems in the field.. Successful vendors will be able to use an Integration Statement recognising their result, and these Integration Statements will be publicised by NEHTA and IHE Australia. These vendors will be well positioned for future participation in NEHTA Conformance Compliance and Accreditation processes as defined. Also, successful vendors will be eligible to participate in the 2010 IHE Interoperability Showcase at the HIC August 2010 conference ( [] ) should they wish to do so.

Fees for Connectathon
There will be a fee for participation for each vendor and each additional product (reflecting a proportion of the actual costs of running this event). DoHA is providing financial support to reduce the costs to all vendors. As this event is being run on a cost recovery basis the final cost of participation will be based on the number of vendors involved. An indication the average fee for participation at the 2009 Connectathon was $3,500 per vendor (with the actual fee depending on organisational size – possibly as low as $1,000). In summary vendors who participate successfully will: · Have an opportunity to test their products in a convenient way with potential messaging partners. · If needed, troubleshoot connectivity issues (with the presence of Connectathon monitors and experts to assist if required) · Be able to promote their communication systems as having demonstrated technical integration with other vendors. · Allows senior technical staff to engage with their opposite numbers in other companies and reduce the eventual time taken on the job to achieve inter-connectivity.

Marketing success
Vendors who successfully complete the Connectathon are eligible to participate in the 2010 IHE Australia Connectathon Interoperability Showcase which is held in the exhibition area of the HISA annual conference HIC 2010 in Melbourne on 24-26 August 2010. This event shows IT systems working in real clinical scenarios; it is the largest exhibition, and has been the most frequented part of the conference exhibition for several years. This exhibition is only open to vendors who have demonstrated compliance with Australian standards and other IHE profiles in local or international Connectathons.

Next Steps
A teleconference for interested vendors will be held at 1pm.on 15th Feb 2010 (repeated on 18th February) 2010. The dial-in details are at: http://ihe-australia.wikispaces.com/Teleconference+%26+Webconference+details ). Further information on the secure messaging profile and the April 2010 Connectathon is accessible at : http://ihe-australia.wikispaces.com/

A detailed document “__Testing Process for the Secure Messaging Connectathon April 2010” will be available at:__

http://ihe-australia.wikispaces.com/Connectathon+2010+April

Questions and registrations of interest by email to: ConnectathonManager@IHE.net.au Bernie Crowe Secure Messaging Connectathon Manager IHE Australia Mob 0418487081

PLEASE COMPLETE THIS FORM TO IDENTIFY YOUR COMPANIES NOMINATED POINT OF CONTACT AND TO INDICATE IF POSSIBLE THE CURRENT SITUAITON WITH REGARD TO IMPLEMENTATION OF SECURE WEB SERVICE MESSAGING.



TO VIEW DRAFT TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS AND MESSAGE PAYLOAD DOCUMENTS