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In a previous post on interface documentation and sample HL7 messages, I touched on four guidelines for using sample messages. We’re working on software that will make it easier to use sample messages effectively in your HL7 integration projects. The software is called Caristix Reader, and it will be available free of charge upon release. A beta version is now available for download and evaluation here.

Caristix Reader and Sample HL7 Messages

1. Message Structure Caristix Reader captures message structures from sample [...]

When it comes to interface documentation formats, we’re all about using whatever analysts, project managers, and developers find helpful: Word site surveys, Excel lists, wikis, whatever works. Those tools are perfect for handling the baseline information around inbound and outbound channel specifications and transport specifics.

In recent customer conversations and in discussions on LinkedIn, one practice stood out: the use of sample messages to understand real-world systems. Sample messages contain a wealth of information about the systems that need to connect. [...]

HL7 Interfacing Advice from the Indiana Health Information Exchange

The largest health information exchange (HIE) in the US is located in Indiana. It connects 80 hospitals, and serves 10 million patients as well as 19,000 physicians. IHIE members participated in a recent meeting of the Central Indiana Beacon Community and posted their slide decks here. The presentation that resonated for us was Mapping Interfaces by Dr. Mike Barnes, Dan Vreeman, and Amanda Smiley (PDF).

Their killer quote: “Interface programmers are the only [...]

Jean-Luc Morin, VP R&D at Caristix, has a guest post on Shahid Shah’s blog, Healthcare IT Guy. Shahid’s top-ranked blog covers healthcare IT, EMR, EHR, PHR, medical content, and document management.

Jean-Luc’s article covers 6 questions hospital CIOs and IT directors should be asking vendors about interface documentation.

Here’s an excerpt:

At first glance, documentation doesn’t seem like a CIO-level concern. In a typical implementation cycle, the team gets a few specs from a vendor. Someone signs off on an interface configuration document. [...]

A few weeks ago, I was working on an HL7 v3 project with an outside partner and the discussion turned to market adoption. We came to the conclusion that it’s not exactly taking off — at least, not as quickly as you might expect. Apart from meaningful-use initiatives around CDA in the US and the big push by Canada Health Infoway, I don’t really see much traction in North America. I’m going to come right out and say this: from [...]