Semantic Interoperability
Semantics Domain
SI. 1 Is the National Infrastructure able to provide friendly versions (structured and coded data) of the documents to be exchanged?
Response
Yes. NCPeH CY can provide friendly versions for all sections and fields (structured and coded data) of the documents to be exchanged, based on the HL7 Clinical Document Architecture (CDA), which is an XML-based markup standard intended to specify the encoding, structure and semantics of clinical documents for exchange. Note that Cyprus NCP is using only the English version for the PS. Moreover, both versions, the PIVOΤ and the Friendly versions are in English language.
- Annex TE 2 Reference Test Documents, Sections 1.1 and 1.3
SI. 2 Is the National Infrastructure able to provide the original information of the documents to be exchanged in PDF format?
Response
Yes. The pdf versions are based on the PIVOT XML format.
- Annex TE 2 Reference Test Documents, Sections 1.2 and 1.4
SI. 3 How does the National Infrastructure ensure the integrity of the data provided to the NCPeH?
Response
They are retrieved from a document repository. There are two scenarios of operations. Scenario 1: Doctors will create at the presence of the patient, with his/her active consent, the Patient Summary and the eP. Patient Summary and / or eP will be verified by the doctor before uploading. Scenario 2: Certain Patient Summary fields will be retrieved from HIS records. The doctor will fill in the remaining fields, verify and send with patient's active consent.
- Annex TE 1 NCP CY Technical deliverable – Part A, Sections A3.a.vii and A3.a.viii
MTC Management
SI. 4 Has the NCPeH defined the translation policies (for preservation of meaning in cross-border exchange) of clinical vocabularies in the MVC and a procedure to create/perform translation of clinical vocabularies in the MVC?
Response
We don't translate anything as English is the language we are using. At present Cyprus will be using the English version of the MVC. At this point in time, Cyprus has decided to use MVC as is, with no translation of the English wording in the national language (which is Greek). The reason for this is that health professionals (medical doctors, pharmacists) know the English medical language very well. The only MVC coding that can be used in the Greek language is ICD-10 version 2016 (please see the link https://www.gesy.org.cy/el-gr/annualreport/icd10-join-2016-gr-final-2019-04-21.xlsx [excel file with the coding and the corresponding original english and the translated greek equivalent]). The ICD-10 version 2016, was updated by the Health Insurance Organization (HIO) (which is used for its own software).
SI. 5 Has the NCPeH defined the transcoding (mapping) policies of clinical vocabularies in the MVC and a procedure to create/perform transcoding (mapping) of clinical vocabularies in the MVC?
Response
We are not doing any mapping as we already use MVC in our documents. It is noted that the medical coding is based on ICD 10, SNOMED CT, ATC, EDQM (same coding as in MVC).
- Annex SE 1 MVC Coding
The Health Monitoring Unit (of the Ministry for Health) will try to translate all the wording in the Greek language in 2021. The procedure and the approval for the translation has to be given by the Secretary General of the Ministry for Health.
SI. 8 Do you have in place a procedure to complete Translations/Transcodings, upload and publish in the Central Terminology Services?
Response
No. At present, the policy is to use English. Next year (2021), we will try to translate the MVC wording in the Greek language.