General practice and computing standards.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: 'Standards' refer to common standards for communication and exchange of information about goods and services. Embedded within these common standards are gold standards for quality, privacy, safety and performance. Technical and semantic standards are essential building blocks for the required information and communication infrastructure to support the secure management and sharing of high quality information across general practice and the health care system. OBJECTIVE: To describe the current developments and implications of terminology, architecture and messaging standards in general practice. CONCLUSION: The current Health Online framework and National Health Information Standards Plan, with nationally coordinated implementation strategies like HealthConnect and the Better Medication Management System, are encouraging, However, there is little common understanding of technical and semantic standards among clinicians, administrators and researchers in general practice and health care system. The state-Commonwealth and private-public dichotomies are other barriers. As part of their roles as gate-openers in an integrated health care system, GPs must explicitly promote the implementation of national communication and information exchange standards.