Nikolaus (Niki) Wirsz, PhD
Program Manager Healthcare IT Standards & Interoperability, Siemens
Involved with IHE for 15 years
I have been involved in IHE since its inception in 1998 when this initiative was concerned merely with interoperability in Radiology and Imaging, and have continued to support the development of IHE in many other medical fields, serving as co-chairman on the IHE Radiology Planning Committee and contributing to the deployment of IHE in Europe and in Germany. I am pleased to be an emeritus representative to the IHE International Board for the past 4 years to be able to support the advancement of IHE worldwide.
IHE took an unparalleled approach in shaping healthcare models and processes by bringing together healthcare professionals, clinicians, IT specialists and standards development organizations. The results of their collaborative efforts are practicable frameworks for developing ready-made products and systems that are easier to integrate and deploy. The IHE specifications provide a unique foundation for medical technology vendors to design products and assemble solutions best-suited for reutilization given the multitude and diversity of clinical IT settings. Healthcare delivery organizations benefit from a suite of harmonized tools and applications to optimize their tasks, to efficiently manage and share healthcare records and to increase the quality of patient care services.