RHEx

include component="page" wikiName="siframework" page="RHEx HeaderHome" flat =What is RHEx?= RESTful Health Exchange (RHEx) is a fiscal year (FY) 2012, open-source, exploratory project to pilot proven web technologies that support simple, secure, standards-based health information exchange. RHEx continues the tradition of federal partner investment to find innovative solutions to their health IT needs and share the results of their investment with the entire health IT community.

The RHEx project was funded by the Federal Health Architecture (FHA) program to help address the September 2011 NwHIN Power Team draft recommendations to the HIT Standards Committee to consider REST as a complementary technology to health information exchange.

As an S&I Affiliated Project, RHEx is intended to inform a path forward for REST and explore an approach that facilitates: =RHEx: Web 2.0 for Health= Web 2.0 (the second generation of the world wide web) is almost everywhere—banking, e-government, social media, personal entertainment, and e-commerce. Why not healthcare? Imagine what we could do to manage our health! We could view all of our healthcare records from different providers and doctors, track our health progress from wellness to complex conditions, and share parts or all of our healthcare information with other providers, caretakers or family members – all in a safe and secure manner.
 * Patients’ ability to securely access and manage their health information over the World Wide Web (WWW) while preserving their privacy;
 * Providers’ ability to obtain and exchange health information with each other to support patient care; and
 * Organizations’ability to leverage technologies widely used on the web to foster health IT solutions that are relatively easy to implement and maintain.

REST (REpresentational State Transfer) is the dominant design paradigm used on the web and can make Web 2.0 and mobile applications possible for healthcare. Why not leverage Web 2.0 technologies for health that make Google easy to search, Amazon easy to navigate, and E*TRADE secure?

RHEx uses REST to make health information exchange simple and secure. RHEx adds additional security by applying the same trusted tools used by successful, high-volume, secure services companies. By applying authentication standards widely used on the Internet, providers and patients can securely access trusted electronic health records with one account. Multiple logins are not needed because RHEx supports a “single sign-on” type environment. Phase I (April – July, 2012) of the RHEx project will apply these proven security technologies.

RHEx uses web links to access existing patient data across trusted providers rather than duplicating information in a database. This construct enables a federated approach to data integration. The RHEx design facilitates faster development at reduced costs. As an open-source solution, public and private developers can leverage RHEx and its benefits for a broad variety of healthcare solutions. Phase II (July – September, 2012) of the RHEx project will present a content approach to a RESTful exchange. =How Can You Get Involved?= Designed to inform a path forward, the RHEx project would like to identify where strong community consensus exists on a RESTful approach, and where concerns or a lack of strong industry direction exist. The RHEx project continues the tradition of federal leadership on innovative health information exchanges and welcomes feedback from public and private partners. There are various ways you can follow, provide feedback, or contribute to the RHEx project:
 * 1) Join the S&I Framework Wiki if you have not already done so.
 * 2) Read about the project on our wiki pages: Charter, RHEx Approach, Community Feedback, Materials, Pilots, Related Efforts
 * 3) Subscribe to our Google Group and join the conversation (This Group is now closed - you can review project discussions [|here].)
 * 4) Review recordings of the WebEx meetings (found on the Materials page)
 * 5) View or contribute to our source code on [|GitHub].
 * 6) Contact Us for additional information.

include component="page" wikiName="siframework" page="space.template.inc_contentleft_end"