Modularisation

First impressions are that the ITK R2 specifications look quite different to their predecessors. This is to some extent misleading however, as much of the actual content is unchanged. However it was recognised that the ITK R1.1 specifications needed refactoring into a more modular structure to support future growth:

• Separation of messaging definitions into domain-based packs
• Reorganisation of architecture specifications into a set of modular components
• Cleaner separation of the transport protocols (ie separate Web Services transport module)
• New website format to provide better presentation and easier navigation of the documents

Support for more complex implementation scenarios

ITK R1.1 provided support for simple interaction patterns (eg basic one-way message transmission) between pre-defined and configured endpoints.

ITK R2 rounds this out with support for more complex scenarios ie:

• Acknowledgements at both the infrastructure and business level
• Addressing and Routing services

Correspondence

A key focus of ITK R2 has been to lay the groundwork for clinical document exchange. This has included specifying a set of generic services for document transmission - including the ability to carry attachments.

This has been developed into a maturity model to support varying approaches, ranging from a basic human-readable PDF right through to fully coded CDA.

Some specific document content has been defined for ITK R2. It is anticipated further document content definitions may be added in future releases.

Spine Mini Services

The final focus of ITK R2 has been the use of ITK Web Services to simplify access to Spine Services. The implementation consists of new message bundles which define a simplified set of PDS services, as well as architecture requirements for a Spine Mini Service Provider component which acts as an intermediary to protect Spine. New accreditation approaches to support this model have also been piloted.