In partnership with Kereval, an established software testing company for the telecom and automotive industries, IHE-Services will extend the tools and techniques developed for the annual IHE European Connectathon to provide interoperability testing for national e-health projects, HICT users in regional hospitals or vendors developing new platforms.
"The lack of interoperability between the systems used by different healthcare providers has been the greatest obstacle to a wider use of information technologies for better healthcare," said Jacqueline Surugue, the Users Co-Chair for IHE-Europe.
"Offering a responsive service with access to the testing tools and expertise developed for IHE-Europe responds to a growing demand from e-health initiatives across Europe," she said.
The creation of IHE-Services facilitates a technology transfer from INRIA, the French national institute for research in computer science and control, along with a number of INRIA engineers who will work on the IHE-Services team with Kereval.
The work pioneered by INRIA has been central to the growth and acceptance of IHE in Europe. This strategic evolution responds to the increasing number of requests received by IHE-Europe to provide vendor-neutral services for testing interoperability in e-health projects across Europe. Currently these tools are primarily used by participants at the annual IHE-Europe Connectathon event that brings together more than 300 software engineers from 90 organizations in an intensive connectivity marathon.
About IHE-Europe
IHE-Europe is the European branch of the international IHE organisation. 'Integrating the
Healthcare Enterprise' (IHE) is a joint initiative of healthcare professionals and industry to improve the way computer systems in healthcare share information. IHE promotes the coordinated use of established standards such as DICOM, XML and HL7 to address specific clinical needs in support of optimal patient care. Systems developed in accordance with IHE specifications communicate with one another better, are easier to implement, and enable care providers to use information more effectively.
About KEREVAL
An independent laboratory for test engineering, KEREVAL, is recognized as a specialist in improving software quality with more than 10 years of experience working with leading companies in the automotive, banking, and telecommunications sectors. KEREVAL offers tailored services to help customers professionalize their approach to software quality and elaborate a testing strategy that will lead to successfully establishing a certified CFTL testing team. KEREVAL accompanies its customers as well in the industrialization of their test process and proposes plans of test automation. Accredited as a training organization by CFTL/ISTQB, KEREVAL is designs educational programs and organizes certification exams.
About INRIA
At the interface of computer science and mathematics, from pure research to technological development and to industrial transfer, researchers at INRIA, a public research institute, are inventing tomorrow's digital technologies. INRIA's research is collaborative, which is evidenced by the diversity of the talent comprising its research teams, as well as in the many joint projects conducted with public and private research entities in France and abroad. While competing with the leading international specialists in their field, INRIA researchers and staff are also committed to sharing their knowledge with the widest possible audience.