May 10, 2007 - Agfa HealthCare and InterComponentWare AG (ICW) announced today that the companies are beginning a non-exclusive agreement for the development of seamless integration and interoperability between Agfa HealthCare's Hospital Information System (HIS) ORBIS(TM) and ICW's eHealth Framework.
The agreement is an extension of an ongoing co-operation between the two companies on homogeneity issues in the hospital sector. Agfa HealthCare and ICW, amongst others, have already actively co-operated in various working groups in Germany, including the VHitG (Verband der Hersteller von IT-Lösungen für das Gesundheitswesen), on the implementation of HL7 (Health Level 7) (1) in Germany and on the development of an electronic case record.
EHealth solutions are aimed at improving the overall quality of care by allowing healthcare providers to share all relevant patient medical data for an individual in treatment (highlighting allergies, medication history and so forth). This system reportedly allows each treating physician to see the total medical record of the patient, regardless of location and supports them in their diagnosis and treatment planning.
The ICW eHealth Framework is an open platform for the development of service-oriented solutions for the healthcare market. It offers standardized interfaces for the integration of existing applications of other manufacturers with solutions from ICW. The eHealth Framework is said to enable seamless integration, allowing different existing systems to be combined into one consistent solution.