Japan Association for Medical Informatics

[2-E-2-03] How should we relate the Standardized Discharge Summary with IPS (International Patient Summary) - Japanese version ?

*Sunao Watanabe1, Osahiro Takahashi2, Naoki Nakashima3, Sakai Iwasaki4 (1. Medical Information Development Center (MEDIS-DC), 2. Chiba Foundation for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention, 3. Kyushu University Hospital Medical Information Center, 4. Japan Council for Postgraduate Clinical Training (JCEP))

standardized discharge summary, international patient summary, HL7 FHIR, ICD, ICF

It is usual for an average elderly patient to have multiple chronic diseases/disabilities requiring comprehensive understanding of his/her health status, and be in need to take multidisciplinary treatment/care in various facilities (acute care hospital, local clinic, and nursing home, etc.) In this setting, efficient, concise, and reliable information exchange is frequently vital for his/her healthcare. The concept of IPS, which is acknowledged as an ISO standard is basically the same, in that main items of healthcare concern should be recorded in a standardized manner to make easy sharing of vital information possible in multiple healthcare facilities, especially in emergency settings, sometimes even beyond the country border. As a structure using open-web technology with easiness of implementation and with good interoperability, HL7 FHIR is suitable for health-data sharing among various healthcare facilities, and also with patients themselves. The IPS greatly owes its versatility to the structure of FHIR. In 2022, MHLW of Japan acknowledged the “Standard Specification for Discharge Summary based on HL7 FHIR.” As the basic structure is same, core items of the discharge summary, such as Problems, Medication, and Allergy/Intolerance, can be easily streamed into IPS. Making of this “IPS-Japanese version” is thought to be precious not only in emergent situations, but also in ordinary multifacility cooperative healthcare. And in the era of highly graying society, addition of the Function/Disability status information to the summary, and to IPS, is urgently needed.