Overview
ISO/TR 12773-2:2009 - "Business requirements for health summary records - Part 2: Environmental scan" is an informative Technical Report from ISO/TC 215 (Health informatics). Rather than prescribing normative requirements, it surveys international health summary record (HSR) initiatives, documents common business needs, and captures lessons learned from implementations worldwide. The environmental scan was compiled from web searches, publicly available project documentation, and direct contact with project sponsors where needed.
Key topics and technical focus
- Definitions and terminology for HSRs, EHR extracts, shareable EHR, metadata, agents, clients/patients and clinical information (aligned with ISO health informatics vocabulary).
- Inventory of initiatives reviewed, including national and regional efforts such as NEHTA (Australia), Canadian provincial summaries (Ontario, BC, Alberta), NHS variants (England, Scotland, Wales), VistA (US Veterans’ Health), and international standards implementations.
- Standards referenced and content profiles: HL7 CDA, CCD/CCR, IHE medical summary profiles, ASTM Continuity of Care Record, ISO 21549-3 (limited clinical data), and related EHR architecture standards (e.g., ISO 13606, ISO/TR 20514).
- Technical elements of HSRs: data groups and core datasets, structure and content specifications, metadata and extract semantics, and interoperability considerations for sharing summary data across systems.
- Methodology of the environmental scan and synthesis of common business requirements that drive HSR development (safety, continuity of care, emergency access, content standardization).
Practical applications and who uses it
ISO/TR 12773-2 is primarily a reference for:
- Health IT architects and EHR vendors designing or mapping summary record formats and interoperable extracts.
- Standards developers and implementers who need to align HSR specifications with existing international profiles (HL7, IHE, ASTM, ISO).
- Health system planners, policymakers and project sponsors evaluating national/regional approaches and lessons learned for HSR rollouts.
- Clinicians and clinical informaticians interested in understanding what core clinical data should be included in snapshot summaries to support care transitions and emergency scenarios.
Practical uses include scoping HSR requirements, comparing international approaches, selecting content and structure models (e.g., CDA/CCD vs CCR), and informing interoperability strategies.
Related standards
- ISO/TR 12773-1 (Part 1: Requirements)
- HL7 Clinical Document Architecture (CDA)
- ASTM Continuity of Care Record (CCR)
- HL7 Continuity of Care Document (CCD)
- IHE Medical Summary Integration Profiles
- ISO 21549-3; ISO 13606; ISO/TR 20514
Keywords: ISO/TR 12773-2, health summary records, HSR, health informatics, EHR extract, CDA, continuity of care, interoperability.