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Introduction

Overview

This FHIR implementation guide supports implementers of digital health assets that will use HL7 FHIR to enable CorHealth Registry.

The guide specifies a set of rules for using FHIR resources to map to HL7v2 data contributed by the cardiac sites and to retrieve CorHealth data as FHIR resources.

The guide includes:

  • a description of the CorHealth intended use, data elements and terminologies,
  • considerations for system-to-system integration using FHIR, and
  • conformance expectations.

This guide is based on FHIR R4.0.1.

CorHealth Registry

CorHealth Ontario, is part of Ontario Health, an agency created by the Government of Ontario with a mandate to connect and coordinate our province’s health care system to help ensure that Ontarians receive the best possible care.

The Cardiac Care Network of Ontario and the Ontario Stroke Network – CorHealth Ontario was established to lead the way in enhancing cardiac, stroke and vascular care in the province by using data and evidence as the foundation for all the decision making.

In 2016, the Cardiac Care Network of Ontario and the Ontario Stroke Network merged to form one organization, with a mandate spanning cardiac, stroke and vascular care in the province. On June 22, 2017, after a year of transition, the new entity became CorHealth Ontario. CorHealth Ontario successfully transferred into Ontario Health on December 1, 2021.

The focus of this project is Cardiac Care which covers conditions of the heart, including ischemic heart disease, heart failure and other forms of heart disease. 1.3 million Canadians are diagnosed with heart disease, of which 600,000 are living with heart failure.

With the introduction of the Information and Digital Strategy (IDS) in June 2018, CorHealth hds worked to define the data it needed to support health system monitoring and improvement

  • This project's goal was to reduce the number of data elements your hospital submits to the CorHealth Registry and to replace the registry technology with a modern data collection system capable of electronic data exchange
  • This project included two phases of work:
    • Phase 1: implement a new cardiac dataset with the 20 participating cardiac centres, and transform the CorHealth Registry, and related technologies, into a new data collection and reporting solution based on Smile CDR technology
    • Phase 2: enable the electronic data exchange of the cardiac dataset

Digital Health Information Exchange (DHIEX)

On January 1, 2021, an amendment to Ontario Regulation 329/04 (“O. Reg. 329/04” or the “regulation”) came into force to establish the DHIEX framework for interoperability specifications, as set out in sections 26 to 34 of the regulation. As a cornerstone of the Ministry of Health’s Digital First for Health Strategy, the DHIEX framework is intended to guide and support adoption of modern interoperability specifications for seamless access to integrated records of personal health information. In accordance with the regulation, Ontario Health is required to, subject to the review and approval of the Minister, establish, maintain and amend interoperability specifications for digital health assets selected, developed or used by health information custodians.

In accordance with O. Reg. 329/04, a health information custodian is required to ensure that every digital health asset that it selects, develops or uses complies with every applicable interoperability specification, as it may be amended from time to time, within the time period set out in the specification. Compliance with this requirement does not relieve a health information custodian of its obligation to comply with the other provisions of PHIPA and its regulations.

Content and Organization

The implementation guide is organized into the following sections:

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This material includes SNOMED Clinical Terms® (SNOMED CT®) (https://www.snomed.org/use-snomed-ct/) which is used by permission SNOMED International. All rights reserved. SNOMED CT®, was originally created by The College of American Pathologists.

“SNOMED” and “SNOMED CT” are registered trademarks of SNOMED International (https://www.snomed.org/).

Pursuant to O. Reg. 329/04, Ontario Health is required to, subject to the review and approval of the Minister, establish, maintain and amend interoperability specifications. The Minister may direct Ontario Health to establish or amend interoperability specifications, and Ontario Health is required to comply with such direction.

In accordance with O. Reg. 329/04, Ontario Health makes the interoperability specification most recently approved by the Minister available to the public by posting it on Ontario Health’s website or by such other means as Ontario Health considers advisable.

As the Minister may direct Ontario Health to amend the interoperability specifications from time-to-time, Ontario Health advises the public and any other users of information concerning interoperability specifications to regularly review Ontario Health’s website where the interoperability specifications are posted, or such other means Ontario Health considers advisable, in order to confirm that they are accessing the interoperability specifications most recently approved by the Minister.

You understand and agree that:

(i) This specification is provided “AS IS” without any warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied, in fact or in law;

(ii) Ontario Health is not responsible for your use or reliance on the information in this specification or any costs associated with such use or reliance; and

(iii) Ontario Health has no liability to any party for that party’s access, use or reliance on this specification or any of the information contained in it.


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Approval History

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