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
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
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
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
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
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
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
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
Interface engines for Healthcare: 21st Century Trends. McLeod CG, Inc., 2004
t
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
Interface engines for Healthcare: 21st Century Trends. McLeod CG, Inc., 2004
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
Integration EngineProcurement
What needs to go into theOutput Based Specification?
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
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
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
Example: User-friendly interface development environment
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS CORE REQUIREMENTS
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
• 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
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS CORE REQUIREMENTS
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
• Audit and monitoring tools
– Interface engine monitoring screen(s)
– Message tracking / Audit trails
– Performance monitoring tools
– Reporting tools for analysing trends
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS CORE REQUIREMENTS
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
Example: Interface engine monitoring screen
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS CORE REQUIREMENTS
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
Example: Interface audit monitoring screen
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS CORE REQUIREMENTS
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
• 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)
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS CORE REQUIREMENTS
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
• 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
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS CORE REQUIREMENTS
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
• Ability to enforce the order in which messages are processed
– eg. First In, First Out (FIFO) messaging where sequencing of messages is critical
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS CORE REQUIREMENTS
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
• Data mapping / conversion toolsets
Example: Map Openlink message to equivalent HL7 message for test patient
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS CORE REQUIREMENTS
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTSSTANDARDS
• Conformance with key NHS information / messaging standards, including
– HL7v2.x – EDIFACT– ASTM
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTSSTANDARDS
• Conformance to the NHS messaging standards being developed by CfH, ie: HL7v3 (NPfIT Message Implementation Manual (MIM))
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTSSTANDARDS
• 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
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
Integration EngineProcurement
Other considerations
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
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
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
• 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
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
PROCURING AN INTEGRATION ENGINEESTABLISHING LIFETIME COSTS
Ask the suppliers to include their lifetime costs for all components in the OBS / tender response.
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
Integration EngineProcurement
Potential issues
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
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?
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
Integration EngineProcurement
UK Marketplace
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
INTEGRATION ENGINES UK HEALTHCARE MARKETPLACE
Philip FirthIM&T Strategy Implementation ManagerWrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
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