What is NIEM?

1

NIEM is a national program supported by the federal government to increase information sharing between organizations who share a common need to exchange information to advance their missions. NIEM includes a data model from which organizations can establish information sharing specifications.

What NIEM is… What NIEM is NOT…

Source: https://www.niem.gov/about/what-is-niem/Pages/what-is-niem.aspx

• NIEM is a collaborative partnership among key governmental agencies, operational practitioners, technologists, systems developers, solution providers, standards bodies, and other stakeholders

• NIEM offers a common vocabulary and an online repository of information exchange package documentations (IEPDs) to support information sharing

• NIEM enables enterprise-wide information sharing with the tools, governance, and documentation to support the implementation

• NIEM is flexible and exchanges are reusable• NIEM works with existing standards

• NIEM is not a standardNIEM enables the creation of standards

• NIEM is not a database nor a data warehouseNIEM is a reusable library of data definitions

supported by tools, training, technical assistance, and a vibrant community. It does not store data.

• NIEM is not the actual exchange of informationNIEM describes the data that is in motion in the

exchange

• NIEM is not a SoftwareIt is a model for exchanging information between

disparate systems without being intrusive to those systems

• NIEM participation does not mean the loss of data ownershipAll NIEM participants retain ownership of their data

Why NIEM?

2

NIEM is designed to develop, disseminate, and support information exchange standards and processes that can enable organizations to effectively share information resulting in Interoperability, Reusability and Standardization of data exchange. NIEM adoption leads to cost avoidance, enhanced mission capabilities and low total cost of ownership.

Source: NIEM PMO Presentation “Establishing a Domain within NIEM”

Interoperability

NIEM establishes interoperability through

the use of

Common Language and Vocabulary

and

Agnostic Implementation

Reusability

The reuse of Information Exchange Package

Documentations (IEPDs), within NIEM will

Decrease Development Time

and

Increase Consistency

Standardization

The formalization of NIEM as standardized model enables

Structured Approach

and

Community of Support

Why NIEM Health?

3

• Interoperability– Enable interoperability of health data across the

health industry to support HHS’s objective of reaping the full economic benefit of exchanging healthcare information

• Reusability– Support the Health Community and the NIEM

community by making data exchanges discoverable, understandable, accessible, and reusable across public and private partners and stakeholders.

– Reuse existing standards where possible – drawing from existing health data standards from organizations such as HL7, IHE, ISO, X12, etc.

• Standardization– Provide unambiguous and consistent descriptions

of universal healthcare exchange language that helps the healthcare stakeholders and addresses PCAST recommendation

• Cost ReductionReduces the cost of information sharing for healthcare by reusing the data model and the IEPD’s

• Value ExpansionExpands the NIEM core data model by harmonizing them with the health care data model

• Promote Information SharingPromote the use of NIEM Health Domain data model and IEPD’s for health information sharing between Federal, state, local, and private information exchange partners

• Governance EstablishmentManage and govern the NIEM Health Domain data model and IEPD’s

• Repeatable Best PracticesCollaborate with NIEM PMO and ensure that the NIEM Health Domain is following the NIEM best practices and conforming to NIEM requirements

NIEM Health Value Proposition NIEM Health Potential Benefits

The intention to establish the NIEM Health Domain is to support information sharing and promote Interoperability, Reusability and Standardation of health data exchanges between healthcare organizations including Federal, state and local agencies

Source: “NIEM Health Domain Charter”