PACS/information systems interoperability using Enterprise Communication Framework

Interoperability among healthcare applications goes beyond connectivity to allow components to exchange structured information and work together in a predictable, coordinated fashion. To facilitate building an interoperability infrastructure, an Enterprise Communication Framework (ECF) was developed by the members of the Andover Working Group for Healthcare Interoperability (AWG-OHI). The ECF consists of four models: Use Case Model, Domain Information Model (DIM), Interaction Model and Message Model. To realize this framework, a software component called the Enterprise Communicator (EC) is used. We demonstrate the use of the framework in interoperating a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) with a radiology information system (RIS).