L32 Test Plan and Test Results

Electronic health data exchange is a key element of health care reform. Current Federal mandates require that health data be exchanged electronically using recognized standards. The C32 Specification is the recognized standard for exchanging Continuity of Care information. We propose a tool called L32 for "Lightweight C32 Implementation" to accelerate and lower the cost of electronic health data exchange in accordance with the C32 Specification. L32 is intended to be a single, consistent, machine-interpretable implementation of the C32 Specification. In order to demonstrate that L32 is a viable option for representing C32 documents, we compiled a list of possible benefits and concerns of using L32 instead of the C32 Specification. We then performed five distinct experiments, containing a total of eleven tests, to determine the validity of these benefits and concerns. The results are overwhelmingly favorable for L32. We found that L32 can express the information contained within a C32 document and that L32 instances can be validated by existing validation tools. Moreover, because L32 is represented as an Extensible Markup Language (XML) schema, it is both human and machine readable, thus lowering the burden on software developers. L32 also enables the use of open source and low cost XML tools. Thus, the L32 allows for easier creation of correct C32 instances, at a lower cost to the institution by greatly reducing the amount of custom software needed.