Facilitator

A Facilitator is a person that coordinates the work of a committee with a generic or infrastructural nature (e.g. publishing, MnM, Vocab, InM, CDA) with one or more Technical Committees (TCs) and Special Interest Groups (SIGs). The facilitator actively participates in the work of both committees.

• There is currently no harmonized procedure for appointing facilitators. A person will act as a facilitator until they either voluntarily step down, or until a new facilitator is appointed because of a lack of attandance to committee/SIG meetings of the old facilitator.

Related role: Committee Representative

The HL7 Organization has various Facilitators (see below for descriptions).

Facilitators within HL7

The role of the Publishing Facilitator includes the following:

• The Publishing Facilitator is responsible for coordinating the creation and editing of the content of a Version 3 Standard with the appropriate Technical Committees (TCs) and Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
• The Publishing Facilitator works with the appropriate Committee Chairs to ensure that a properly completed Ballot Request for Information Form is submitted to HL7 HQ by the deadline specified. This is required to have your document included in a Ballot Cycle.
• The Publishing Facilitator submits the Version 3 document components (PubDB, Visio Diagrams, etc) to HL7 HQ so that it can be included in a Ballot Cycle.

Responsibilities of a MnM Facilitator:

• Guide group through the HL7 Development Framework – current expression of methodology
  • Help group produce specifications that are clear, complete and consistent within and across domain
• Provide guidance in the use of the HL7 Specification Design and Documentation Tools
  • Know how to use tools, help others use tools, coordinate specification development
• Participate in “harmonization processes” to align model artifacts across domains
  • Prepare RIM harmonization change proposals
  • Prepare Vocabulary Domain change proposals for RIM structured attributes
• Provide feedback to MnM on effectiveness of the methodology and tooling
• Keep up-to-date with all of the above

Vocabulary Facilitator:

1. A facilitator can be nominated by either the Vocab TC or the domain TC, but must be approved by the co-chairs of both committees.

• Attend all scheduled vocabulary facilitator’s meetings. These sessions are held during the regular Working Group meetings and are usually scheduled for one half day.
• Attend the meetings of their designated Domain Technical Committee (PAFM, OO, Patient Care, Financial Management, etc.) when vocabulary issues are to be discussed.
  • Act as a expert resource to the technical committees on vocabulary and terminology principles and issues.
  • Assist the committee with the selection of value sets for use in coded attributes referenced in R-MIMs, CMETs, HMDs, and Message Types.
  • Guidance about how value sets are selected following the Good Vocabulary Practices Document and the Guidance to TC document (future), and how to build a new value sets.
  • Contact vocabulary system experts as needed for support in a specific subject or domain.
  • Make technical committee aware of official vocabulary policies and procedures.
  • Report back to the Vocabulary TC any issues raised in discussions in the domain TC.
  • Educate domain TC’s about how to use their vocabulary facilitator.
  • Prepare and submit value set additions to the HL7 vocabulary tables. The tools are available for making these submissions.
  • Attend the RIM harmonization meeting to explain and defend vocabulary submissions. (We should make it possible to attend via teleconference.)
  • Coordinate value set creation with the Modeling and Methodology facilitator to insure that the vocabulary and the model (R-MIMs, CMETs, HMDs, and Message Types) form a consistent whole.
  • For proposed use of external code systems, determine the licensing restrictions and copyright.
  • Be aware of how vocabulary choices will affect localization of the standard within specific realms

International Facilitator Function created at HL7 Plenary Meeting in San Diego, 1998, and abolished during the WGM of May 2006.

• Objectives:
  • Ensure international requirements are included in V2.x and V3.
  • Ensure that HL7 Standards Documents are internationally understood.
  • Long term: make HL7 globally applicable.