Infoway Certification Services
Infoway launched Certification Services to accelerate the introduction of private, secure, interoperable health information solutions that leverage Canada’s substantial investments in EHR systems.
The objectives of Infoway Certification Services are to:
- Increase the recognition, acceptance and adoption of trusted, interoperable health information solutions in the Canadian marketplace;
- Reduce the cost and risk to vendors, purchasers and users of these solutions in Canada; and
- Ensure privacy, security and interoperability requirements are met.
Get answers to Frequently Asked Questions.
What does Infoway certify?
Infoway offers pre-implementation certification for the following technology classes:
- Client registry
- Consumer health application
- Consumer health platform
- Diagnostic Imaging (DI)
- Drug Information System (DIS)
- Immunization registry
- Provider registry
In the future, Infoway will be expanding its services to include certification of a number of domains relevant to EHR system investments.
For more information on Infoway Certification Services, please see our news release and Frequently Asked Questions.
How does certification work?
At the heart of Certification Services is the review of your product to determine whether it conforms to the Infoway assessment criteria. The assessment criteria are focused on functionality, privacy, security, interoperability and management. They have been developed using accepted standards within the Canadian and international health information communities, and enhanced with input and feedback from a broad range of health industry stakeholders.
Framework for criteria
The framework for the assessment criteria is shown in the table below. It consists of two classes of criteria:
Solution – Refers to the aspects of the health information solution’s functionality, privacy, security and interoperability that are assessed.
Management – Refers to how the organization providing the solution manages risk, data, system security, as well as third party services and solution accreditation.
| Structure of Certification Assessment Criteria | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solution "The What" | Management "The How" |
|||
|
Functionality * Identification Data accuracy * A limited number of additional functional criteria may need to be added based on class requirements of each technology solution. ** This criterion applies for consumer health solutions. |
Privacy Accountability Transparency Data safeguards Identifying Purposes & Limiting Collection Limiting Use, Disclosure & Retention Compliance Consent ** |
Security User identity management Access control Data integrity Data availability Audit Logging Data confidentiality |
Interoperability Diagnostic imaging Laboratory Drug Shared health record Client demographics Provider demographics |
Control Risk management Data management System security Solution accreditation Third party services |
Standards basis of certification
Standards used to create the assessment criteria include:
- Functionality – Canada Health Infoway Electronic Health Record Privacy and Security Requirements.
- Privacy – Canada Health Infoway Electronic Health Record Infostructure (EHRi) Privacy & Security Conceptual Architecture; Government of Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA); The Canadian Standards Association’s Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information – CAN-CSA-Q830-03.
- Security – Canada Health Infoway Electronic Health Record Infostructure (EHRi) Privacy & Security Conceptual Architecture; The International Organization for Standardization’s Code of Practice for Information Security Management – ISO/IEC 17799:2005; The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information Systems – NIST SP800-53;The USA Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule.
- Interoperability – Canada Health Infoway pan-Canadian Standards and Conformance Profile Definitions for diagnostic imaging, laboratory, drug, shared health record, and demographic information.
- Management – The IT Governance Institute Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT); The Office of Government Commerce’s Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL).
Register today
Register with Infoway to receive more information about certification and to stay informed of future service announcements.