About digital health standards

Standards development

Digital health standards are formal documents, developed by accredited standards development organisations. A standard may specify the use of required processes, criteria or methodology to improve consumer confidence regarding the safety and reliability of a digital health solution. Development of standards is a complex, open and transparent process requiring the input and consensus of multiple expert stakeholder groups.

Digital health specifications describe an explicit set of requirements or design criteria that must be satisfied. Specifications do not require the endorsement of an accredited standards development organisation but may be adopted into a standard by such organisations. Specifications can also support conformance testing.

Adoption of standards in Australia is typically voluntary. Standards may be specified in legislation or recommended for conformance. The Australian Digital Health Agency (the Agency) provides recommendations and guidance for industry seeking to connect to national infrastructure through the publication of developer guides, specifications, and conformance profiles.

Types of standards

Interoperability Digital health standards can be categorised by type:

Transport & Messaging - message formatting for data exchange between systems
Terminology & Vocabulary - structured classification systems for unanimous understanding of health concepts
Security - protection of control over personal or organisational information
Privacy - protection of data integrity and confidentiality
Identifiers - unique identification of an individual healthcare provider, patient, organisation or device
Content - organisation and structure of message content (data)

Industry networks

The Agency works with standards development organisations, state and territory governments, healthcare providers, consumers, academia, industry associations and software vendors to support stakeholder engagement and identify future needs for the benefit of all Australians who rely on safe, quality and equitable healthcare outcomes.

The Agency is growing a community-of-practice for professionals with an interest in technical standards, in response to several barriers to standards adoption identified by industry. The availability of multiple international, national and regional standards can present complex challenges in identifying appropriate resources for Australian use. Collective industry participation in standards selection, development and maintenance will strengthen expertise and help identify emerging sector needs.

Industry training and support

The Agency endorses the use of HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (HL7 FHIR), a global standard available for rapid deployment of interoperable solutions. Training on FHIR implementation is provided through our partnership with HL7 Australia.

As in previous years, Agency-funded places will be offered to continue to support the needs of software developers, solution architects, project managers, executives and government officials considering the use of HL7 FHIR.

The HL7 training covers the following topics:

FHIR Fundamentals for Australian Developers
Introduction to FHIR for Project Managers
Opportunities for Australia with SMART on FHIR Apps
What does it take to make the switch from HL7 V2 to FHIR?
Should my organisation implement FHIR?

For further information and to register your interest visit:
https://www.digitalhealth.gov.au/healthcare-providers/training-and-support/fhir-training-courses

Digital Health Standards Catalogue

The Agency is currently developing a Digital Health Standards Catalogue that will contain a library of published and up-to-date standards and specifications accessible via a single front-door.

The Catalogue will be a dynamic resource that is continually improved through co-design. Discussion forums will be launched alongside the catalogue to allow industry professionals to share experiences and insights on the use of standards, growing connections and collaboration across the sector.

Access the Digital Health Standards Catalogue

Guiding principles

The guiding principles detailed below have been developed in consultation with Agency partners in standards and interoperability and are intended as a guide for the process of developing digital health standards.

The principles aim to:  

Support the digital health community in fostering positive participation in standards development,
Guide the Australian healthcare technology sector in its adoption and implementation of digital health standards,
Set the foundation for working relationships between the Agency and standards development organisations in relation to standards development, prioritisation, selection, and maintenance.

Principle 1: Open and transparent

Digital health standards should be published and developed transparently. They should be readily available, be reviewed regularly and have an acceptable level of use.

A health system that provides accessible, reliable, useful and up-to-date information to all interested stakeholders so they can acquire meaningful understanding of the quality, patient experience, finance, governance, and individual health data associated with the health system, and make judgement on its fairness.

Principle 2: Re-use across services and platforms

Digital health standards support evolving models of care across multiple settings and will be adopted and implemented by a broad range of providers, promoting a re-use first approach. Standards need to support interoperability and information access in a secure setting.

Rather than create new standards, we need to work together (as a community) to reach agreement on a common set of standards.

Principle 3: Sustainability

Digital health standards will enable software developers in the health technology sector to compete on a level playing field. Conformant processes and technology for interoperability in Australia be adopted.

It is essential that future investments consider methods for capturing, sharing, and managing clinical information. Procurement documentation and strategies should include consistent interoperability requirements that support an efficient and innovative health technology sector and provide the solutions required to deliver an interoperable digital health system.

Principle 4: Well informed

Digital health standards are selected and developed based on systematic reviews of both local and international standards. Where possible recognised international standards both in health and other sectors should be used building on core national healthcare digital infrastructure and supporting Australian health priorities.

Principle 5: Information as a health system asset

Digital health standards guide the assessment, sourcing, development, adoption and conformance across the Australian health care system.

Update, improve, and refine our standards, implementation guides, and testing strategies to attain interoperability across systems for all Australians Healthcare data to be shared.

Principle 6: User centric

Digital health standards support safe, seamless and secure patient centred care prioritising privacy requirements and enhanced user experience for consumers, carers and service providers.

Safe secure and seamless centred care is paramount in achieving positive patient outcomes.

Principle 7: Supportive ecosystem

Digital health standards require a supportive ecosystem comprised of 5 elements:

Complementary clinical standards
Guidelines for digital health care
National privacy regulatory framework
Well trained and available digital health workforce
Vibrant software research and development sector