Information Systems/Technical Roles
| Sending System |
A Sending System is an information system used by the Sender for the creation, management and release of Messages to be transmitted via the NSMN. |
| Receiving System | A Receiving System is an information system used by the Receiver. It is responsible for processing Messages received via the NSMN and making their content available to Receivers so that related business processes can be executed. |
| Relay System | A Relay System is an intermediate system between a Sending System and a Sending Edge Node, or a Receiving System and a Receiving Edge Node. The Relay System acts as an intermediary, relaying or forwarding Messages between the systems. |
| Internal Information System | A Sending System, Receiving System, or Relay System. |
| Receiving Edge Node | A Receiving Edge Node is the interface between a Core Node and the Internal Information Systems used by the Receiver. A Receiving Edge Node is a delivery point in the NSMN with a logical address where a Sealed Message containing a Clinical Message or Acknowledgement Message can be received. After receiving a Sealed Message from a Core Node, Receiving Edge Nodes decrypt them, check their digital signature and transmit their Payload to the Receiving System, directly or via Relay System(s). A Receiving Edge Node is represented in a Provider Directory by one or more Endpoint entries. |
| Sending Edge Node | A Sending Edge Node is the interface between the Internal Information Systems used by the Sender and a Core Node. The Sending Edge Node receives Payloads to transmit (Clinical Messages or Acknowledgement Messages) from a Sending System or Relay System. A Sending Edge Node is responsible for signing, encrypting and transmitting the Payload, inside a Sealed Message, to a Core Node. A Sending Edge Node is also delivery point in the NSMN with a logical address where a Sealed Message containing a Final Transport Response can be received. |
| Core Node | A Core Node is responsible for exchanging Sealed Messages securely with other Core Nodes in the NSMN and providing message sending and receiving services for their connected Edge Nodes. A Core Node is also responsible for maintaining and exposing a Provider Directory containing address information for its Receiving Edge Nodes. |
| Provider Directory | A Provider Directory is an electronic directory of Healthcare Providers and associated entities that conforms to the Australian Provider Directory Implementation Guide (PD 2) specification. |
| Endpoint |
A service interface exposed by a Receiving Edge Node where a Sealed Messaged can be delivered. Endpoints are defined in the FHIR PD2 Endpoint Specification. |
Parties
| Consumer |
A Consumer is the subject-of-care in the Clinical Message being transmitted or an authorised representative of the subject-of-care. Consumers are often referred to as “clients” or "patients". |
| Sender | A Sender is the Organisation that operates the Internal Information Systems that an Author uses to send a Message. |
| Receiver | A Receiver is the Organisation that operates the Internal Information Systems that deliver messages to the Intended Recipient. |
| Author | An Author is a Practitioner or device that initiates the send of a Clinical Message or Acknowledgement Message via the NSMN, determines the Receivers, and authorises the release of the contained information for transmission. An agent, such as a GP Practice Manager, may act on behalf of the Author (e.g. a GP) to facilitate the transmission of the clinical message. |
| Intended Recipient | A Receiving is the Practitioner Role or Healthcare Provider who the Author intends as the recipient of their transmitted Clinical Message or Acknowledgement Message. |
| Organisation | An Organisation is the legal entity operating a Healthcare Service. Organisation is defined in the Australian Provider Directory Implementation Guide (PD 2) specification. |
| Healthcare Service | A Healthcare Service is a service whose Practitioner Roles deliver healthcare-related services to Consumers at a location. The formal data definition for Healthcare Service can be found here. |
| Practitioner Role | A Practitioner Role is a Practitioner who, acting on behalf of a Healthcare Service, delivers healthcare-related services to Consumers at a location. A single Practitioner may act in multiple Practitioner Roles. The formal data definition for Practitioner Role can be found here. |
| Practitioner | A Practitioner is a person who, when acting in a Practitioner Role, is directly or indirectly involved in the provisioning of healthcare-related services to Consumers. The formal data definition for Practitioner can be found here. |
Messages
| Clinical Message |
A Clinical Message is a Payload that a Sender transmits to a Receiver to communicate clinical information and/or request a service. A referral sent from a GP to a specialist, or a discharge summary sent from a hospital to a GP, and both examples of Clinical Messages. |
| Accept Acknowledgment Message (aka Accept Acknowledgement) | An Accept Acknowledgement Message is a Payload sent by the Receiving System to the Sending System indicating successful storage of a received Clinical Message. Accept Acknowledgement Messages are to be used as per the HL7 v2.4 specification. |
| Application Acknowledgement Messages (aka Application Acknowledgement) | Application Acknowledgements a Payload sent by the Receiving System to the Sending System indicating the status of a received Clinical Message. The format of an Application Acknowledgement Message is specific to the Clinical Message being acknowledged (e.g. RRI-I12 is the format of an Application Acknowledgement Message for a received REF-I12 Clinical Message. Application Acknowledgement Messages are to be used as per the HL7 v2.4 specification). |
| Acknowledgment Message (aka Acknowledgement) | Acknowledgement Message and Acknowledgement are general terms for Accept Acknowledgement Messages and Application Acknowledgement Messages. |
| Message | Message is a general term for Clinical Messages and Acknowledgement Messages. |
| Final Transport Response | A Final Transport Response is a transport-layer message generated by a Receiving Edge Node or Core Node for transmission back to a Sending Edge Node (and in some cases the Sending System) indicating the success or failure of the message delivery process. Final Transport Responses include both Success and Error messages, as per ATS-5822 section 2.8.3a. |
| Sealed Message | Sealed Message is the XML message format defined in ATS-5822 specification, Appendix B2.3. The Sealed Message wraps the Payload being transmitted. |
| Payload | A general term for the content being transmitted inside a Sealed Message. |