Usage of Standards to Integration of Hospital Information Systems

Introduction: Data exchange across healthcare facilities is a major issue in healthcare information systems. Standards play an important role in the context of communication. In this paper, we surveyed the usage of standards in the hospital information systems (HISs) in the affiliated hospitals of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Material and Methods: This survey was performed in 2014-2015. Seventeen hospitals that had an HIS were surveyed. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The design of the questionnaire was based on a literature review and consisted of three parts. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: XML, HL7 and DICOM are commonly used international interchange standards. In the case of security standards, 76.5% of HISs do not support the HIPPA and CEN TC 251 security standards. ICD was the most commonly used terminology standard in the HISs. Several studies have indicated that HISs should cover data exchange, security and terminology standards to provide integration of heterogeneous systems. Conclusion: In the current study, the role of standards in the architecture of the HISs was inconspicuous. To make the HIS effective, it is necessary to consider the standards when developing the system. In this matter, legislation could help.