XDW - IHE

IHE IT Infrastructure Technical Framework Supplement – Cross-Enterprise Document
Workflow (XDW)
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Likewise, the clinical and administrative documents that are used as input and produced
as output by the tasks of workflows managed by the XDW profile are shared using the
same first layer of this architecture.
• The third layer introduces the semantic definition of the workflows that can be
understood and executed among the participating systems/applications. The orchestration
of specific workflows allows the workflow participants to share a common understanding
of the specific tasks, the dependencies between these tasks, and a number of rules that
control the workflow execution.Execution details are conveyed through the XDW
Workflow Document defined by the second layer of the architecture. The specification
of Workflow Definitions at this third layer is distinct from the XDW Profile and is
currently best handled with a natural language expression (See example of Basic
Unstructured Workflow Definition Profile, ITI TF-3:Appendix X).
• The fourth layer of this architecture contains the applications executed by the
participating systems. Such applications bridge between XDW managed workflow and
the locally managed workflow. Much of the details of the local workflows managed by
each application will be hidden and encapsulated in “higher” granularity tasks exposed
through XDW, as such details would not need to be externally exposed. The workflow
definitions conveyed by the third layer should only contain higher granularity tasks that
require workflow coordination across organizational boundaries.
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X.4.1.2 XDW Document Structure
The XDW Profile uses the XDW Workflow Document to manage workflows.
The XDW Workflow Document enables participants in a multi-organization environment to
manage and track the execution of patient-centric workflows. The structure of
WorkflowDocument is organized into Tasks and TaskEvents.
A Task describes an activity, or a group of activities, that need to be accomplished or have been
accomplished. A Task is characterized by several attributes:
• the type of task,
• the owner of the task,
• the current status that are valid for this task,
• the references to documents used for input or produced as output
• the history of past Task Events for this task, that document the progress of the task up to
the present state
When a person or organization has been assigned as owner of the task, the task is placed under
execution. (It moves from a “created” or “ready” state to an “in-progress” state). When the
expected activity(ies) is completed successfully the task moves to the completed state, otherwise
to the failed state (for the state diagram see ITI TF 3: 5.X.4.2.4).
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Rev. 2.0 – 2011-07-29
Copyright © 2011: IHE International, Inc.