How is the IPTI different from Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) products on the market today or applications developed by the Government or Military?
The IPTI is not producing a ‘product’ in the sense of an application or system that could be purchased, nor is it endorsing any specific technology or solution. The IPTI is producing a set of guidelines and requirements that a potential solution should adhere to in order to meet current and future interoperability standards as well as functionality identified by a national group of experts representing the spectrum of stakeholders. Existing systems may meet many of the requirements identified by IPTI stakeholders. However, currently there are no standards-based interfaces between different jurisdictions or between different vendors’ systems. The IPTI seeks to identify the common information needs to enable patient tracking across the various systems so that localities, hospitals and emergency responders can provide a more coordinated response to an emergency. As witnessed during Hurricane Katrina, important patient information was lost because there was no standardized way to record an
