This week, we welcome Manny Furst, technical project manager, IHE Patient Care Device Domain, and president of Improvement Technologies LLC, as our guest blogger. In the September 1 Weekly Jolt we featured a call for profile proposals from the PCD domain. Here, Manny expands on why your input is needed and important.
 
“The need for interoperable communications (nonproprietary, standards-based messages) carrying device data to enterprise applications such as the electronic health record is obvious. Making this happen requires users to define needs and priorities and companies to voluntarily engage with competitors and others to build upon standards to define truly interoperable messages. Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE), which has several specialty domains (radiology, cardiology, etc), provides a forum for this effort. The PCD domain is charged with developing the technical requirements for messages from point-of-care medical devices (eg, infusion pumps, patient monitoring, and ventilators). This includes physiologic, operational—pump flow rate, alarms to caregivers—and device data (eg, battery condition). The PCD’s existing 'profiles' can be found online and the PCD invites you to identify your needs."

Here, Manny asks: "What do you see as high priority needs? Are you asking vendors to supply IHE conforming systems? Are you asking vendors if they are actively engaged in developing IHE profiles and products? We hope you’ll blog about it with your colleagues by commenting on this.”