Week-in and week-out, we continually focus on what still needs to be done, rarely pausing to pay attention to what has already been accomplished. As 2012 draws to a close, I wanted to pause a moment and acknowledge all of the work and efforts that have been made in contributing to what has been another productive and successful chapter in HSSP's history. At the end of the day, our community survives based upon the time and effort that is contributed by all of our participants and participating organizations. This is very much recognized and appreciated.
I would also like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the HSSP milestones that have occured this year:
>
The Resource
Location and Updating Service (RLUS) passed its normative ballot and became
a final specification. After languishing for some time following its
“Draft Standard” status, this specification finally graduated to a normative
work. Special thanks to Stefano Lotti of Invitalia/HL7 Italia for his herculean
work in getting this long overdue work item complete
> The [Healthcare and Community] Services Directory (ServD)
Specification was adopted by the OMG as a technical specification.
Anchored by the team of Brian Postlethwaite and Peter Young, the ServD specification
had a very successful and rapid adoption to the kudos of the OMG Architecture
Board, a rarity.
> The Common Terminology
Services Release 2 (CTS2) technical specification was adopted.
Championed originally by the Mayo Team and then with the support of Phast, CTS2
was among the most visible specifications to come through HSSP. While
their “ride” was perhaps not as smooth as some of the other standards
activities, CTS2 has created a tremendous energy and excitement across the
industry, and continues to quickly pick up steam in the form of new adopters
and implementations. Special kudos to Harold Solbrig, Craig Stancl,
Ana Estelrich, Russ Hamm for their efforts, and special thanks to Chris Chute
for having the foresight and fortitude to continue to invest in this important
work.
> Produced informative
guidance on use of HSSP and other standards to address the needs of the
Immunization Community in the form of the Cross-Paradigm Implementation
Project. This effort has spearheaded cross-community collaboration and is
leading the way as an early-adopter of emerging HL7 methodology in conjunction
with engaging new communities. Kudos to Alean Kirnak for her efforts in
continuing to drive differing constituencies to work together.
> Adoption of the hData
REST profile for RLUS (formerly the hData RESTful Specification), and all
of the hard work that Gerald Beuchelt and his team have contributed to this
work. Having arrived at the SOA WG in HL7 without any prior knowledge of
the OMG RLUS specification, the team at Mitre was able to align hData to the
RLUS Platform Independent Model in very short order, creating our first “new
addition” platform support as an adjunct to an existing specification.
> Adoption of the Medication
Statement Profile for RLUS, the first specialization of what had been a
generic specification for use in a domain-specific environment. Gerald
Beuchelt, Hugh Glover, and all the others involved in this project are owed our
thanks for exploring new ground as we determine how our foundational standards
are applied into other domains (and for establishing a model for collaboration
between other HL7 workgroups and SOA)
> Significant “uptick” in reference implementations of HSSP
activities, including but not limited to the OpenCDS community (spearheaded by
Ken Kawamoto and the University of Utah), the CTS2 Toolkit (spearheaded by
Kevin Johnson and Mayo Clinic), and several broad, open HSSP implementation
activities in Italy (thanks to Stefano Lotti and the HealthSOAF project) and
Germany (thanks to Franhoufer Institute and the entire team there). [My
apologies that I do not know all of the key players involved in these efforts].
> Several educational and training events were held, including the
“Interconnected Health” conference in Chicago, Illinois; presence at HIMSS
in Las Vegas; “Information Seminars” in Rome, Singapore, and Cambridge; and a
very well attended webinar on SOA. This is in addition to the many
educational sessions, forums, and webinars hosted on specific standards within
our portfolio.
> In addition to the above, we have initiated a number of new projects
(and continue to make progress on existing activities) that hopefully will be
on this list in 2013. As has become our custom, this list is devoted to
major accomplishments and milestones. This in no way diminishes the hard
work of each of our project leads and valuable contributors whom may not have
been specifically mentioned.
> Finally, with the close of 2012, we bid adieu to Gerald Beuchelt,
whom has served as HL7 SOA co-chair and will be departing us as he undertakes a
change in career path to activities outside of the health domain.
Thanks Gerald for all of your hard work, your drive, your sense of humor, and
your passion. You will be missed and are welcome back at any time.
No doubt a number of significant efforts and individual contributors have been overlooked, and for that, I am sorry. As you can see, 2012 has been a fruitful and productive year. My sincerest thanks to everyone that has contributed to this work, whether as an author, reviewer, implementer, or supporter. Here is looking forward to another great year, to making a difference, and to having the most fun possible while doing important and meaningful work positively affecting the health and wellness of people across the globe. Happy holidays to all of you, and wishing you the best for 2013!
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