Simplifying the Interface Challenge in Healthcare
A Healthcare Software Provider or Medical Device Manufacturer’s Approach to Healthcare Integration
Providers, application software developers, and medical device vendors are all faced with the demand of providing electronic interfaces at unprecedented rates. While there are many different approaches and tools used to solve the healthcare integration challenge, the options primarily are reduced to:
| 1. | Implementing point-to-point interfaces |
| 2. |
Developing an integration engine (sometimes referred to as a communications subsystem) |
| 3. |
Partnering with an integration engine vendor |
No matter what the approach, a vendor’s application, at a minimum, likely will need to integrate to several different healthcare applications including the following:
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Hospital Information System |
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Radiology Information System |
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Laboratory Information System |
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Electronic Medical Record |
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Electronic Healthcare Record |
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Emergency Department Application |
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Pharmacy System |
Determining the most effective approach for healthcare integration has a long term impact on an organization’s development, client support, and client implementation functions. Defining the requirements is an important first step to evaluating the options.
Healthcare Integration Overview
To facilitate communication between two healthcare applications, a modest interface includes:
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Illustrated below is a simple, sample interface between an HIS system and a lab. The blue box represents the export endpoint for the HIS system and the yellow box represents the import endpoint for the lab system.
See Illustration in complete PDF report.
HL7 is the most widely used standard to facilitate the communication between two or more clinical applications. The prime benefit of HL7 is that it simplifies the implementation of interfaces and reduces the need for custom interfaces.
Since it’s inception in the late 1980’s, HL7 has evolved as a very flexible standard with a documented framework for negotiation between applications. The inherent flexibility defined in the HL7 Standard will make the use of an integration technology solution attractive and, most times, a necessity.
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To download a complete PDF version of Simplifying the Interface Challenge in Healthcare, follow the attachment below.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Healthcare-Integration-Vendor-Approach.pdf | 83.62 KB |