A Web Services specification for the Healthcare Enterprise as a unified approach to the exchange of medical information

A Web Services specification is presented for the archiving and enterprise distribution of medical images and information. This provides a unified entry point for access to medical information and the necessary manipulation operations to assure that this information stays in synch with the other information systems of the Healthcare Enterprise. The techniques for implementing this specification, be it an implementation from scratch or the development of bridges to existing systems, are also presented A modality is achieved which facilitates the construction of tools to access the medical information through the Web, requiring less expertise than is currently required. These tools are built using current widely accepted software technologies. Once in the realm of Web Services, systems offering access to their information through Web Services may be federated.