What is ISO 21860 about?
ISO 21860 establishes the Reference Standards Portfolio (RSP) for the clinical imaging domain. An RSP lists the principal health information technology (HIT) standards that form the basis of implementing and deploying interoperable applications in the target domain. An RSP includes a description of the domain, a normative list of standards, and informative framework for mapping the standards to example deployment use cases.
The primary target audience for ISO 21860 are policymakers, regulators, project planners and HIT managers. The intended usage of ISO 21860 is to inform decisions about selecting the standards that will form the basis of integration projects in geographic regions or healthcare organizations. For example:
- What standards to use for capturing/encoding/exchanging certain types of information
- What standards to use for interfaces between the devices and information systems that support information capture, management, exchange, processing and use
- What standards to use for specific use cases/deployment scenarios
ISO 21860 was developed based on concepts and methodology described in the Healthcare Informatics – Reference Standards Portfolio (RSP): Development framework.
Who is ISO 21860 for?
ISO 21860 on RSP is relevant to:
- Equipment and HIT vendors
- Healthcare technology industry
- Clinical and health information management (HIM) professionals
- Standards developers
Why should you use ISO 21860?
Modern healthcare is supported by medical devices and information systems that capture, manage, exchange, process and present clinical, operational, research and public health data. This occurs at scales from individual clinics and hospital departments, up to networks of hospitals and regional or national healthcare systems. Adopting standards and using them consistently would make it easier to install, operate and, over time, update and replace these devices and information systems.
ISO 21860 presents a portfolio of standards that have been selected as being mature, fit for purpose and most appropriate to address use cases related to the clinical imaging domain. Clinical imaging is considered throughout the enterprise.
The selected standards, and/or corresponding RSP clauses, might be useful when drafting project specifications.