The Use Case Factory®

In the world of health information exchange, a use case is a unique instance of sharing a specific type of information regarding patients and their health. Each use case has a specific purpose, type of data exchanged, and rules for interactions between people and systems.

Each instance of health information sharing, each fully-defined use case, must have a robust, well-reasoned legal and technical framework to support how the information is sent, received, found, and used.

Each use case may have different access restrictions, rules for using or further sharing the data, cost recovery fees or charges, and technical requirements. 

The Use Case Factory® is MiHIN’s formal, lean manufacturing-oriented methodology to modularize, prioritize, define, and advance data sharing on a large scale. It consists of a standardized approach to manage the full life cycle of a portfolio of data sharing scenario Use Cases and the associated governance process to prioritize and motivate their adoption.

The UCF® manages at technical and legal levels and considers other critical factors in the ideation cycle like sponsor, funding, environment, and operational readiness.

Rather than making technology the starting point, Michigan’s approach to Health Information exchanges focuses on the purposes for which data will be exchanged, along with the policies and incentives on a case-by-case basis.

Use Case Factory® Domains and Activities

At a high level these five domains make up the core workstreams of the Use Case Factory™ (UCF).

  • Core Technical Infrastructure

  • Legal Framework

  • Governance Structures

  • Use Case Development (over 4 stages from Conceptualization to Adoption, as depicted) 

  • Sequenced Onboarding 

    Use Case ideas are welcome, and encouraged, from all sources and interested parties.

    All suggestions will be reviewed for inclusion in the inventory by MiHIN management and the MOAC Use Case Work Group.

    Submit Use Case via Customer Portal

    Current Use Cases Supporting Care Coordination

    In a healthcare system where individuals often receive medical care from more than one system, care coordination among providers after discharge from an emergency department or hospital in one system, while the patient’s primary care physician resides in another, poses many challenges and often fails to happen.  This incomplete sharing of clinical information can adversely affect health outcomes. These use cases support the sharing of clinical health information for the purposes of robust care coordination.

    Current Use Cases Supporting Public Health

    Timely and complete reporting is crucial to enable quick response to outbreaks that threaten the health of the public. These use cases support the network in its effort to refine technical and workflow processes to make public health surveillance more efficient.

    Current Use Cases Supporting Results Delivery

    The purpose of these use cases is to deliver real-time lab and other time-sensitive results,  providing immediate access to patients’ results.

    Current Use Cases Supporting Quality Information and Administration

    The purposes of these use cases include: Data exchange activities that help automate and reduce patient or provider burden and improve the efficiency and effectiveness related to healthcare operations and payment; standardizing and streamlining the gaps-in-care process, reporting formats, and information transport resulting in more closed gaps-in-care, improved HEDIS scores for health plans, and better care for patients.

    Current Use Cases Supporting Network Infrastructure

    The purpose of these use cases is to enable the HIN to provide a service to stakeholders who may use message content within other use cases. The use cases serve to support the foundation of the shared digital infrastructure.