Developing EDI messages and supporting data models: a "bottom up" approach based on "single business purpose" messages meets user needs.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is increasingly being used for the exchange of patient, administrative, and clinical information. There is work in Europe and the United States directed at describing a preferred approach to the task of defining and modeling the information content of standard EDI messages. The literature is currently silent about the criteria for selecting the scope of an individual message. This paper argues the case for developing a larger number of discrete, simpler single purpose messages, rather than "superset" framework messages. The paper also questions the validity of the currently prevailing view that EDI messages should draw their initial content and business purpose from an already predefined model purporting to be "the model of the healthcare delivery system." The paper also examines the ongoing work on defining EDI scenarios of the Open EDI Group [1], which is developing an Open EDI Reference Model Standard on experience gained in using the approach to message development advocated in CR 1350:1993 [1] and the early experience in gaining user acceptance of the first messages developed using this approach.