TheInternational Patient Summary (or IPS) is an accessible standardized minimum health dataset for patients’ health information. In this episode, we delve into what it is, how it works, and the potential benefits it holds for patients, healthcare providers, and entire healthcare systems.

For this conversation, Kelly Kuru, Chief Communications and Collaborations Officer at SNOMED International, is joined by two health information standards, business, and IPS subject matter experts: Robert Hausam and Michael Nusbaum. Both are active contributors to the IPS and its related governance. They also both serve as representative members of the Joint Initiative Council for Global Health Informatics Standardization (JIC), an organization focused on furthering the important role that health information standards play in enabling interoperability. 

Rob and Mike shed light on the development of the IPS since its inception, the collaborative efforts behind the initiative, and the drivers shaping its development and use. You’ll learn about the type of information included in the IPS, real-world examples of how it can be used, the milestones attained to date, and the challenges to its widespread adoption. Tune in to gain valuable insights into this groundbreaking initiative and its potential to revolutionize healthcare information sharing globally.

Key Points from This Episode:

• An introduction to our guests, Rob Hausam and Mike Nusbaum, and their roles in the IPS.
• What the International Patient Summary (IPS) is and why it was created. 
• The required information and some of the other items that may be included in the IPS.
• Insight into the Joint Initiative Council for Global Health Informatics Standardization (JIC).
• Why the IPS has become a priority for healthcare.
• The role of the G7 and other entities that have highlighted the importance of the IPS.
• Specific examples of IPS use cases.
• The milestones that the IPS has already reached and the ones ahead.
• Challenges and obstacles to its widespread adoption.
• How to learn more about the IPS.

Quotes:

“TheInternational Patient Summary is a minimal and a non-exhaustive set of basic clinical data of a patient, especially agnostic and condition-independent, but it's intended to be readily usable by all clinicians for unscheduled cross-border patient care.” — @rhausam[0:04:45]

“What [the JIC has] resulted in now is a number of standards that are designed to work together, developed by different organizations but designed to be fully synchronized, which is really helpful to those who want to implement and use the IPS in their day-to-day activities.” — @mhnusbaum [0:07:25]

“… in June 2021, when the G7, at their meeting in the UK, they actually issued a statement that declared the importance of collaboration and the use of the International Patient Summary very specifically.” — @mhnusbaum[0:08:07]

“Everybody seems to be rallying around the IPS and the importance of the IPS because it’s one of the very first things that have ever been developed in the digital health world that is truly and uniquely international.” — @mhnusbaum[0:08:32]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Robert Hausam

Michael Nusbaum

Kelly Kuru

SNOMED International

International Patient Summary

Joint Initiative Council for Global Health Informatics Standardization

G7 Health Ministers Declaration

Global Digital Health Partnership

HL7 International