In most cases, the clinical environment is heterogenous; devices are supplied by a variety of vendors, allowing for different technologies to be utilized.
[4] The IHE provides a single set of internationally harmonized medical device informatics and interoperability standards as a unitary reference point for the industry.
The IHE collaborates with Continua Health Alliance regarding data exchange protocol and device specializations.
[5] The IHE Patient Care Device (PCD) Technical Framework Volumes 1-3 defines the established standards profiles, such as the integration, transaction and semantic content profiles respectively for complete, enterprise-wide integration and interoperability of health information systems.
Patient confidentiality can be compromised when the device data is transmitted to the wrong electronic health record.