2013-04-11 Tooling Call

Tooling Meeting Template

Meeting Information

HL7 Tooling Meeting Agenda/Minutes Location: Phone: +1 770-657-9270; Participant PassCode:586935# GoToMeeting URL: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/join/699884034	Date: 2013-04-11 Time: 2PM Eastern
Facilitator: Andy	Note taker(s): Lynn Laakso
Attendee	Name, Affiliation
.	.
x	Woody Beeler, Beeler Consulting
x	Wilfred Bonney, HL7 HQ
x	Joshua Carmody, HL7 HQ Tooling Administrator
x	Dennis Cheung, eHealth Ontario
	Lorraine Constable, HL7 ES liaison
x	Jane Curry, Templates, OHT liaison
x	Austin Kreisler
x	Lynn Laakso, HL7 HQ Tooling Support
x	Abdul-Malik Shakir, CIC liaison
	John Ritter, EHR
	Rik Smithies, CS liaison
	Rob Snelick, CGIT liaison
	Rene Spronk, Marketing liaison
x	Andy Stechishin, Co-chair
	Michael van der Zel, co-chair
Quorum Requirements Met (co-chair plus 3 counting staff): (yes)

Agenda

Agenda Topics

• Roll Call & Agenda Review
• Approval of previous minutes from 2013-04-04 Tooling Call
• MAX Demo - by Hugh Glover. Hugh is not on the call.
• Discussion of Tooling Strategy - high level, 3 options (commercial, in-house software house capabilities, limp along with volunteer resources) and their pros and cons.
• Review action items -
• Review projects:

  Tooling-sponsored Projects

  • PI# 992 Tooling Work Group Education Requirements and Plan - see Tooling_Education
  • PI# 913 HL7 Tooling Challenge
  • PI# 904 HL7/OHT Health Ingenuity Exchange Alpha Program Participation
  • PI# 831 EHR-S FM Profiling Tool
  • PI# 803 Tooling_Dashboard
  • PI# 802 Tooling Communication Plan and Execution
  • PI# 801 Tooling Strategy and Process Revision
  • PI# 742 Model Automated Exchange (MAX) for UML Models
  • PI# 665 MIF based Publishing Phase II

• Other/New Business

Supporting Documents

Minutes

Minutes/Conclusions Reached:
Call to order 2:08 PM

• Roll Call & Agenda Review - approved by general consent
• Announcement: Dennis Cheung's interest in serving as co-chair was identified too late to make the HQ announcement and would accept a write-in vote. He will not be in Atlanta. Andy will remind at the Tooling group on Tuesday Q2.
• Approval of previous minutes from 2013-04-04 Tooling Call Jane moves and Austin seconds approval.
  • Discussion: Action item on scheduling a meeting - update - Andy sent out Doodle poll this morning and has not heard back yet.
  • AMS notes that we should have something planned for this WGM for those that have expressed their intent to participate. ACTION ITEM: Andy and Lynn will review where that should appear on the agenda and add WGM agenda discussion to next week's liaison call.
  • Vote: Dennis abstains, approved 7/0/1
• MAX Demo - by Hugh Glover - Hugh is not on the call
• Discussion of Tooling Strategy - high level, 3 options (commercial, in-house software house capabilities, manage with volunteer resources) and their pros and cons.
  • Jane also suggests another strategy is Lantana's Trifolia and other development like the MWB by NIST. The strategy is to rely upon working relationships with other organizations that are building tools that HL7 can use. MDHT by IBM and the VA is another example, and SNOMED tool as well. Others are building custom tools that HL7 community can use. Woody calls it "collaborative development". HL7 provides requirements and methodology rules and others build the tools, notes Jane. Woody suggests replacing the provocative term limp along with 'manage with". It is where the volunteers aren't contributing that we need help, e.g. profiling tools. Gaps in areas needing effort is the issue with volunteer resources.
  • ACTION ITEM: Andy will try to synthesize a list of pros and cons for the four options to the list by early next week.
  • We use a combination of strategies notes Jane. The more types of strategies we use the more we have to coordinate as well. It's not the number of cochairs but the documentation and communication efforts exceed that of the typical contribution of a cochair. Need someone to look at the whole and fill the holes. Volunteers pay attention to the things they want to pay attention to. There are different roles and accountability in a commercial software shop that would be hard to replicate in HL7.
  • Woody comments that the staff that have been allocated are also stretched thin, but he would not want to see a software manager hired. Andy agrees we need to know what the gaps are before we consider hiring someone. Woody notes that succession planning for himself has been identified as a gap and Josh has been tasked to understand them.
  • Jane notes we need to answer the question that is posed for why can't we move to commercial tools? They don't follow any methodology, notes Woody. Josh adds that HQ doesn't want to have a single source for any process. Andy recounts experience with other standards orgs e.g. education industry and ensuring quality and usability. AMS notes we have to be concerned with succession planning with commercial tools also.
  • Jane notes that the basis for the prior discussion included these concerns and the direction for open source and platform, etc. Bottom line is how do we get these points across? How does the Tooling WG support the strategy where HL7 Tooling is so great that it should be considered a benefit of membership and how far are the tools useable outside of standards development in the area of implementation. What budget would be needed to support that effort? With zero budget (Andy quotes JQuinn) you only get what people want to work on. We need to create the understanding of exactly what the budget funding is needed for what they want - the million-dollar annual budget is unlikely. The volunteers allow HL7 to limp along instead of coming to a screeching halt.
  • We knowingly didn't step into the profile space until recently. There has been some cognizance of the limitations of HL7 tooling development.
  • Need to be able to ballot /publish specifications. Everything else is 'nice to have'. Look at the fortune we had in finding how critical the V2 MWB maintenance would be, with someone taking over the development of the V2 MWB after Pete's no longer available; cannot rely upon that. Jane notes the Board was not educated on this as a strategic opportunity and deliberate decision to allow continued maintenance occurring outside HL7. Nurturing needs to occur at executive outreach level not at toolsmith level, notes Andy.
  • We are in this position with IHTSDO and such strategy needs to be made clear to the Board. AMS notes there might be entrepreneurial opportunities once our lines are drawn. Andy agrees that HL7 could do better with bartering WGM fees, membership rates, licensing arrangements, etc. in exchange for development. Such unique partnerships could be taken further.
  • Andy requests further feedback and suggestions to the list. Next week is liaisons' meeting. Woody will be unavailable 5/2.

Adjourned 3:04 PM

Meeting Outcomes

Actions Andy will announce Dennis' eligibility for write-in vote at the Tooling group on Tuesday Q2. Andy and Lynn will review where the Tooling Challenge promotion should appear on the WGM agenda and add WGM agenda discussion to next week's liaison call. Andy will try to synthesize a list of pros and cons for the four tooling strategy options to the list by early next week. .

Next Meeting/Preliminary Agenda Items 2013-04-18 Tooling Call.

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