Post-integration of a tumor documentation system into a HIS via middleware

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Software Engineering
• Medical Informatics

Background:

• Healthcare systems face challenges integrating diverse data schemes for autonomous applications.
• Interoperability requires common data representations like Health Level Seven (HL7) or Edifact.
• Middleware solutions, such as the Distributed Healthcare Environment (DHE), simplify transparent message transfer.

Purpose of the Study:

• To integrate a cancer registry system into a DHE-based Hospital Information System (HIS).
• To develop a DHE-Adapter-Generator for creating adapters for various legacy systems and export formats.
• To facilitate seamless integration of diverse healthcare software products into the DHE.

Main Methods:

• Concept development of a 'DHE-Adapter' to translate legacy system data formats into DHE programming interface calls.
• Design of a DHE-Adapter-Generator to automate the creation of DHE-Adapters.
• Project collaboration within the European Communities Telematics Research Project HC 1019 HANSA.

Main Results:

• The proposed DHE-Adapter facilitates the integration of legacy systems, like cancer registries, into a DHE-based HIS.
• The DHE-Adapter-Generator aims to produce adapters for multiple systems and export formats (e.g., HL7, Edifact).
• This approach reduces the complexity for software vendors integrating products into the DHE.

Conclusions:

• The DHE-Adapter and its generator offer a flexible solution for healthcare system integration.
• This methodology enhances interoperability between legacy systems and middleware platforms.
• The project promotes wider adoption of DHE by simplifying the integration process for diverse healthcare applications.