Comment

Align with the Hi

The specification for Care Service Discovery appears to be relevant to the domain of human service information-and-referral, so I am commenting to encourage alignment of this vocabulary with the Human Services Data Specification and API protocols developed by the Open Referral Initiative and endorsed as industry standards by the Alliance of Information and Referral Systems. (Read more about this endorsement here: https://openreferral.org/airs-recommends-open-referral-for-resource-database-interoperability/

At a glance, most of the concepts here align – the core elements of organization, services and locations that are necessary to identify a service available for a person in need. HSDS also includes additional layers of information that reflect the broad practice of information-and-referral from the human service sector, many of which are germane to the use cases described in this specification. By developing comparative analysis, extensions as necessary, and translation capabilities between these specifications, we can ensure alignment between the health and human service sectors.

HSDS and HSDA are currently used by market leaders for both resource-referral call-center software (such as iCarol) as well as health-centered care-coordination software (such as Healthify and Unite Us). 

These protocols are also under adoption by a range of local governments (such as New York City) and philanthropic funders (such as the Florida Bar Foundation). Open Referral’s protocols for resource data exchange have also been recognized by the US Data Federation, under the General Services Administration: https://federation.data.gov/ 

Documentation of the standard is here, and a testing tool is available here: http://hsdsvalidator.openreferral.org/

By ensuring alignment between the ISA and HSDS/A, we can promote integration among emerging service directory data ecosystems that span the healthcare and human service sectors. This may entail development of a new Interoperability need to address Community Resource Directories within the Content/Structure of the ISA. It may also entail alignment with the Healthcare Provider Directory (although there are significant differences, in that human services typically are not structured around individual practitioners and often are not associated with healthcare plans). 

I would welcome any questions or suggestions, and can be reached at bloom@openreferral.org

IHE mobile Care Services Discovery

The IHE Mobile Care Services Discovery (mCSD) covers the use-cases of CSD and HPD but uses the FHIR standard. 

https://profiles.ihe.net/ITI/TF/Volume1/ch-46.html