Avaya, IBM Partner on Health Care Communications Solutions

Avaya and IBM are teaming up in an effort to improve communications capabilities in the health care space. Avaya is using its ACE software running on IBM's Health Integration Framework to help health care IT application developers integrate communications into their software offerings.

Avaya is working with IBM to help improve communications capabilities in the health care field.

Avaya officials announced May 4 that the company is integrating real-time, intelligent communications into health care applications through its own ACE (Agile Communication Environment) and IBM's Health Integration Framework.

Using Avaya's ACE, which is an SOA (service-oriented architecture)-based application, health care providers can incorporate communications from essentially any vendor into their health care software, according to Avaya. ACE runs on IBM's Health Integration Framework-which includes WebSphere and DB2-and offers application developers the tools needed to integrate these communications into their offerings.

The suite of tools, which includes applications adapters, are built on integration standards such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)'s EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), HL7 (Health Level 7)-which is aimed at protecting health care information that is sent electronically-and IHE, which also involves the sharing of electronic health data.

Avaya's ACE gives users a single interface for integrating patient and clinical data, the company said.

In addition, Avaya officials said the company is integrating communications into Carefx's Fusionfx patient data aggregation portal. The integration with Carefx's portal is also based on ACE and IBM's health framework.

The goal is to enable real-time clinical alerts. Through the portal, health care providers and support staff can contact each other through such means as click-to-call, instant messaging, e-mail and file sharing.

Avaya and IBM have created a Flash demo of the Carefx offering.