5 Structure of the IHE Technical Frameworks

The IHE Technical Frameworks define specific use of established standards. They are updated annually and maintained regularly through the identification and correction of errata. The Technical Framework volumes are augmented by supplements and change proposal documents as described in Section 8. The latest versions of Technical Framework documents are always available at https://profiles.ihe.net/.

The Technical Framework for each domain consists of several volumes:

• Volume 1 provides high-level overviews of each profile, the use cases it addresses, the actors involved, and references to the Transactions and Content Modules used.
• Volume 2 provides detailed technical descriptions of each IHE Transaction.
• Volume 3 provides detailed technical descriptions of each IHE Content Module.
• Volume 4 describes National Extensions to the Technical Framework such as country-specific code sets or national patient privacy requirements.

As volumes are expanded, they may be divided for maintainability into sub-volumes, such as 2a, 2b, and 2x (PDF publications only).

While each domain’s Technical Framework is developed independently, profiles in one domain’s Technical Framework may reference the Transactions and Content Modules defined in another domain’s Technical Framework.