formulating a strategy for systems integration and selecting an integration engine

Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust

Formulating a strategy for systems integration and

selecting an integration engine

Philip Firth

IM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust

[email protected]


WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS?

• Buy an Integration Engine and develop interfaces in-house

– Cost effective if more than one interface– Very scalable

• Find a supplier to build interfaces– Can be expensive

• if more than one interface needed

• if interface requirements change


WHY DOES THE NHS NEED TO INVEST IN INTEGRATION ENGINES?

• Information Governance: improving data quality

• Payment by Results

• 18 Week Pathway

• To enable NHS Connecting for Health projects via existing systems integration


WHAT IS AN INTEGRATION ENGINE?

An interface engine is a software program designed to simplify the creation and management of interfaces between separate applications and systems within an organization.

Interface engines for Healthcare: 21st Century Trends. McLeod CG, Inc., 2004



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Integration EngineProcurement

What needs to go into theOutput Based Specification?


INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS CORE REQUIREMENTS

• Ease of use – User-friendly tools for developing/maintaining interfaces

between existing systems

• Extensibility and scalability: – Ability to develop, maintain and extend any number of

interfaces in-house

• Future Proof– Plug-ins/Adaptors for new/updated message standards


Example: User-friendly interface development environment



• Interface Engine, handles – Communication between systems – Message routing– Inter-format mapping– Persistent message delivery

• Administration tools– GUI toolsets to develop / manage interfaces

• Monitoring tools – Monitor system logs and error conditions– Manage the re-sending of messages



• Audit and monitoring tools

– Interface engine monitoring screen(s)

– Message tracking / Audit trails

– Performance monitoring tools

– Reporting tools for analysing trends



Example: Interface engine monitoring screen



Example: Interface audit monitoring screen



• Reliable / Guaranteed delivery

– Message queues (persist messages until delivery confirmed)

– Ability to resend unacknowledged messages (No of re-tries should be configurable)

– Encryption(guarantee message is not altered in transit)



• Error / Exception handling

– Audit logs

– Error logs

– Error Queues

– Ability to edit and resend messages

– Ability to configure system / write scripts to handle specific error conditions



• Ability to enforce the order in which messages are processed

– eg. First In, First Out (FIFO) messaging where sequencing of messages is critical



• Data mapping / conversion toolsets

Example: Map Openlink message to equivalent HL7 message for test patient



INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTSSTANDARDS

• Conformance with key NHS information / messaging standards, including

– HL7v2.x – EDIFACT– ASTM



• Conformance to the NHS messaging standards being developed by CfH, ie: HL7v3 (NPfIT Message Implementation Manual (MIM))



• Other standards– Conformance with e-GIF standards

– Conformance with proprietary messaging standards, such as Openlink

• Other requirements– Check whether required Web Services protocols are

supported SOAP, WSDL, UDDI etc.

– Check whether required operating systems are supported



Other considerations


PROCURING AN INTEGRATION ENGINE OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

• Customer base – Check whether the supplier has a proven track record

in healthcare integration

• Re-usable libraries– Check whether product has HL7 adaptors, libraries,

and other plug-ins bundled into the product

• Skills– Check what skills will be needed to use the product,

and whether they are available in-house


• Licensing costs• Support and maintenance costs• What levels of customer support are available?

– Standard hours or 24x7? • Implementation costs

– Does any interface development need to be out-sourced?.

• Training needs

PROCURING AN INTEGRATION ENGINE OTHER CONSIDERATIONS


PROCURING AN INTEGRATION ENGINEESTABLISHING LIFETIME COSTS

Ask the suppliers to include their lifetime costs for all components in the OBS / tender response.



Potential issues


INTEGRATION ENGINE ISSUES RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION

• Core skills - in short supply– Systems integration experience (ideally NHS)

– Healthcare standards (HL7v2.x, HL7v3 etc)

– Microsoft .NET

– Java

– Enterprise development (Oracle/SQL Server)

• Potentially rising demand for skilled staff– NCRS roll-out, PbR, 18 Week Pathway etc

• Agenda for Change – can NHS salaries compete with private sector?



UK Marketplace


INTEGRATION ENGINES UK HEALTHCARE MARKETPLACE


SUMMARY

• Evaluate local integration requirements• Decide whether to:

a) Develop interfaces in-house, orb) Find a supplier to build interfaces

• If option (a) preferred– Write output based specification for an

integration engine and test the marketplace– Ensure sufficient skills in-house to both

develop and maintain interfaces


Questions?

formulating a strategy for systems integration and selecting an integration engine

Documents

integration engines

integration engineprocurement

century trends

mcleod cg

map openlink message

equivalent hl7 message

userfriendly tools

nhs need