grapevine, the international initiative whose goal is to promote IT standardization and interoperability, has found its first partner in Austrian Health. The global standardization campaign was only launched recently at conhIT, Europe’s leading trade fair for healthcare IT.
The ability of hardware and software systems from different manufacturers to communicate and collaborate is becoming more and more important. The networking of medical data relieves a huge burden from the entire healthcare sector, as it allows for more effective, faster and cheaper data exchange. Patients receive access to their data and can take a more active role in their own health. This also simplifies communication between physicians, which in turn gives them time for their patients. In this sense, the grapevine initiative supports companies by bringing together IT providers, suppliers and integrators to collectively drive IT standardization.
Austrian Health, the first Austrian center of excellence for medical tourism and disease management, was the first partner to join. The independent center provides advice for national and international patients, takes care of their medical needs and coordinates their treatments. Austrian Health is therefore the link between physicians and patients and it also encourages the exchange of medical know-how between doctors and clinics. This should also enhance Austria’s value as a medical location and tourist destination.
grapevine roll-out: cross-industry and international
grapevine wants to create a platform for interoperability, i.e. standardized, compatible systems. In the healthcare sector, grapevine can build on the outstanding pioneering work of IHE (Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise) in developing standardized data exchange. Interoperability will, in future, be extended to all industries and verticals and will be advanced internationally. To this end, the IHE standards are to be transferred to other segments: from the energy sector to finance and insurance, education, e-government, justice and agriculture.
Structure of initiative and benefits for stakeholders
The grapevine initiative is made up of the international parent company grapevine World (”Marketplace”), the national grapevine companies in the individual countries (”Nationals”) and special project-specific grapevine authorities (”Special Purpose Companies“). Products certified by IHE and grapevine can be purchased on the marketplace.
As a general rule, grapevine offers benefits to all stakeholders. All participating stakeholders benefit from global market access and higher sales volumes. As active participation in grapevine requires going through a twofold certification process which includes a IHE certification as well as project-related tests, customers are guaranteed high quality.
Further advantages of interoperable solutions include the simplification and acceleration of processes as well as resource savings and cost reductions for companies, which ultimately also relieves the financial burden of end consumers, the public and patients.
“We are thrilled to have Austrian Health on board as our first partner. grapevine is already being well received. We therefore expect that many other companies will soon join our initiative in order to simplify workflows through interoperable systems and to speed up the important worldwide IT standardization.” commented Martin Tiani, CEO of grapevine World GmbH.
“In the healthcare sector, certain processes are only made possible by the networking of medical data. The grapevine initiative now offers the first opportunity to pool available resources. This is unique and a big deal.” explains David Gabriel, founder and CEO of Austrian Health. “Through IT standardization with grapevine, we free up valuable time for our patients, for example thanks to faster and easier document management.” says Gabriel.
About grapevine
grapevine is a manufacturer-independent initiative whose aim is to establish a global standardization in data exchange, thus enabling the interoperability of various systems. To do this, grapevine brings together IT providers, suppliers and integrators. grapevine comprises grapevine World (”Marketplace”), the national grapevine companies (”Nationals”) as well as project-specific grapevine authorities (”Special Purpose Companies“). The products of the various manufacturers are sold on the marketplace. Stronger together – all stakeholders benefit from working together and thus play a part in achieving international interoperability in unison. www.grapevineworld.com
Press contact
grapevine World GmbH
Martin Tiani
CEO
Tel: +43 (0)664 18 03 468
Email: martin.tiani(at)grapevineworld.com