Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Health information standards are a cornerstone of electronic health information exchange because they establish consistency in documenting, exchanging, and interpreting a patient’s health information.

Standard types include:

• data format standards
• clinical terminologies standards
• technical messaging standards

Health information standards are developed by experts in digital health such as clinicians, developers, and informatics professionals. When the need for a provincial standard is identified, a proposal is submitted to the Health Information Standards team (via e-mail at HLTH.HISSupport@gov.bc.ca) and an engagement process is started.  The existing governance process for Health Information Standards is under review to better support the provincial Digital Health Strategy (DHS).  As such proposals will be reviewed and the formal endorsement as a provincial standard will occur when a new governance structure is in place.

Published standards and their profiles are available in the standards catalogue. Standards in development and proposed standards may also be listed in the standards catalogue.

Point of service systems and users that integrate with health information exchange services (i.e., Client Registry, Provider Registry, PharmaNet, Provincial Laboratory Information Solution, and report distribution services) hosted by the Ministry of Health and/or regional health authorities must meet provincial interoperability and conformance standards. 

Adoption of health information standards (i.e., application, terminology, clinical document architecture, and data standards) are highly recommended as a best practice across B.C.

To receive notifications when HIS standards are published, send an email to: HLTH.HISSupport@gov.bc.ca