Services Oriented Architecture
Mission
The Services Oriented Architecture Workgroup (SOA WG) supports the HL7 mission to promote and create standards by identifying common architectural "services" and their behaviors and establishing an industry position on the form these services take. The SOA WG will produce Service Functional Models (SFMs), implementation guides, and educational materials. SOA WG will serve as the stewards for the SOA architectural vision for HL7, and assure that standards produced will align and support their targeted health industry business and clinical needs.
Additionally, the workgroup will explore the implications of emerging technologies (such as Cloud computing and advanced distributed systems) for health-related environments. Per the HL7-OMG Memorandum of Understanding, SOA WG serves as the primary liaison with the Object Management Group in cross-standards development organization (SDO) collaboration around SOA (e.g., the Healthcare Services Specification Program).
Charter
- To facilitate the creation of a set of common architectural services (e.g., behavioral specifications) in the form of a Service Functional Model for each service determined to be of priority to the HL7 community.
- To collaborate with all HL7 workgroups and product management groups to provide guidance on the use of SOA methodologies, technologies, and assets as applied to healthcare.
- To support other HL7 committees engaged in service specification work.
- To establish a methodology for consistently specifying services within HL7 aligned with documented HL7 guidance and objectives (e.g., SAIF)
- To coordinate under the existing Memorandum of Understanding with the Object Management Group in the creation of technical specifications supportive of the HL7 standards.
- To leverage existing HL7 content (information models, vocabularies, messaging protocols, etc.) relevant to services and to relate them to service specifications.
- To produce a HL7 Enterprise Reference Architecture document describing the services landscape, identifying the breadth of candidates and service interdependencies, and potentially including a taxonomy of services.
- To provide education on service concepts to other workgroups and Domain leads for other projects, as well as external education on SOA concepts as applied to healthcare (e.g., Ambassador presentations, Practical Guide)
- To produce implementation guidance for SOA and SOA services
- To provide sustainment support for existing HL7 SOA artifacts and to maintain alignment with corresponding OMG work
2021 May Work Group Health Gold Star Award Winner
This Work Group earned a WG Healthiest Star rating in May 2021.
Date of Last Revision
October 3, 2018