Overview
ISO/TS 17117-2:2022 - Health informatics - Terminological resources - Part 2: Implementation Capability (TIC) defines benchmarks for the capability of implementing terminological resources in healthcare software, including electronic health record (EHR) systems. The Technical Specification frames these benchmarks as the basis for a maturity model and supports requirement analysis for real-world use cases. It covers terminology types such as code systems, terminologies, classifications, value sets, and value domains, while not prescribing requirements for any specific terminological resource or detailed tooling choices.
Key Topics and Requirements
- Information lifecycle approach: capability is assessed across five lifecycle stages - data design, data capture, data storage, data retrieval, and data exchange / re‑use.
- Capability areas: assessments consider terminological resource functionality, tool functionality, workforce capability, governance, and conformity to standards.
- Choice of terminological resource: guidance on selecting resources suited to clinical vs. statistical use (granularity, precise meaning, persistence, aggregation).
- Design requirements: relationship to information models, scoping/value‑domain restriction, and clarity of concept differentiation.
- Data capture (UI): expectations for code selection support, display of code system content, tooling support and standards conformance.
- Data permanence and governance: semantic concept permanence, governance of stored coded data, and stewardship for long‑term meaning retention.
- Exchange and mapping: treatment of terminology within messages, mapping considerations, and governance of terminology in exchanged information.
- Workforce and governance: workforce capability requirements (see ISO/TS 22287) and governance processes that sustain safe and interoperable implementations.
Practical Applications and Who Uses It
ISO/TS 17117-2 is practical for:
- Healthcare organizations - to evaluate vendor capabilities, plan terminology adoption, and align internal governance for safer, semantically consistent records.
- Software vendors and cloud service providers - to design and benchmark terminology implementation features in EHRs, clinical decision support and analytics platforms.
- Government and procurement bodies - to define tender requirements that promote semantic interoperability and long‑term data utility.
- Educators and terminology developers - to train staff and shape services that support implementation maturity.
Benefits include improved semantic interoperability, safer clinical data capture, better support for analytics and decision support, and a roadmap for maturing terminology capabilities.
Related Standards
- ISO/TS 17117-1 - attributes of terminological resources (companion guidance)
- ISO/TS 22287 - Workforce roles and capabilities for terminology services
- ISO/TS 21564 - Terminology resource map quality measures (MapQual)
- ISO/TC 215 (Health informatics) guidance and related interoperability standards
Keywords: ISO/TS 17117-2, health informatics, terminological resources, terminology implementation, EHR, semantic interoperability, code systems, value sets, maturity model.
Open preview (PDF)Health informatics — Terminological resources — Part 2: Implementation Capability (TIC)
