Interoperability Architecture

Federal Health Information Sharing Environment
The “Federal Health Information Sharing Environment” (FHISE) framework will help agencies map their business priorities to the information sharing products and identify what interoperable solutions are available today and in the future.   

The FHISE framework helps agencies sift through the enormous amount of information available to identify exactly the information, products and services they need to address their problems. 

The Federal Health Information Sharing Environment (FHISE) provides a common vocabulary, simple tools and lifecycle processes to:

• Establish the federal government as a proactive partner in creating a standards-based health information sharing environment (HISE) to support agency business priorities and our national health-care agenda
• Link priority business requirements with interoperability standards and services to inform planning, investment and implementation decisions
• Use national infrastructure products, supporting the design and implementation of interoperable solutions to fulfill citizen healthcare requirements
• Facilitate broad partner participation during the definition of interoperability standards and service to promote nationwide collaboration and reuse.

Moving Beyond Planning to Implementation
FHA facilitates information exchange between federal agencies and other counterpart health organizations. It does this by interpreting guidance from numerous sources, including the Health Information Technology Standards Panel and the American Health Information Community (AHIC). FHISE helps clarify this guidance by removing any ambiguity from the implementation process. As a result, FHA promotes standardization and interoperability throughout the federal government and the healthcare industry.

FHISE creates a reference point for organizations adopting healthcare interoperability standards and tying into information exchanges. It provides tips and recommendations culled from the experiences of agencies that have successfully rolled out secure data exchange programs.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has created a variety of tools to benefit agencies performing the process of developing architectures that support electronic health records. FHISE serves as a guide, alerting federal agencies to the tools available for each step. If an agency is evaluating how to deploy a common health-related business process, it can turn to FHISE to find out what the relevant use case proposes and also review further guidance that FHA offers. As a result, the agency will be able to put into place a process that fits within the overarching Nationwide Health Information Network.