Integrating the healthcare enterprise in radiation oncology plug and play--the future of radiation oncology?
OBJECTIVE
To describe the processes and benefits of the integrating healthcare enterprises in radiation oncology (IHE-RO).


METHODS
The IHE-RO process includes five basic steps. The first step is to identify common interoperability issues encountered in radiation treatment planning and the delivery process. IHE-RO committees partner with vendors to develop solutions (integration profiles) to interoperability problems. The broad application of these integration profiles across a variety of vender platforms is tested annually at the Connectathon event. Demonstration of the seamless integration and transfer of patient data to the potential users are then presented by vendors at the public demonstration event. Users can then integrate these profiles into requests for proposals and vendor contracts by institutions.


RESULTS
Incorporation of completed integration profiles into requests for proposals can be done when purchasing new equipment. Vendors can publish IHE integration statements to document the integration profiles supported by their products. As a result, users can reference integration profiles in requests for proposals, simplifying the systems acquisition process. These IHE-RO solutions are now available in many of the commercial radiation oncology-related treatment planning, delivery, and information systems. They are also implemented at cancer care sites around the world.


CONCLUSIONS
IHE-RO serves an important purpose for the radiation oncology community at large.
Abdel-Wahab
May
M
Department of Radiation Oncology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, Florida 33136, USA. mwahab@med.miami.edu
Rengan
Ramesh
R
Curran
Bruce
B
Swerdloff
Stuart
S
Miettinen
Mika
M
Field
Colin
C
Ranjitkar
Sunita
S
Palta
Jatinder
J
Tripuraneni
Prabhakar
P
D026683:Advisory Committees / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003628:Database Management Systems; D005544:Forecasting; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D018787:Radiation Oncology / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000639:trends*; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D011880:Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000639:trends*; D018511:Systems Integration; D057188:Workflow