Mayo Foundation Electronic Results Inquiry, the HL7 connection

Rapid access to patient information is critical for care in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Ancillary systems (Lab, Microbiology, Electrocardiogram (ECG), Echocardiography, etc.) contain test result information. Mayo Foundation is piloting an Electronic Results Inquiry System (ERIS), using the Phamis Lastword database, that aggregates some of this information into a central location. The results may then be accessed by workstations or forwarded to surgical, critical care, and transplant information systems. All communications messages, except for the workstation interface, will be based on the Health Level 7 (HL7) specification, version 2.1. The specification has benefitted Mayo by shortening interface design effort and providing common messages between various computer systems. At this time, HL7 is the most practical solution for these interfaces[1]. HL7 gives all parties involved in the interfaces a "blueprint" to begin design. Unlike a formal blueprint, the specification is flexible and handles most of the needs encountered to date. The areas in which the specification was lacking were reported to the HL7 working group. These areas have been addressed by the working group to allow completion of the interfaces described here. This paper describes the HL7 interfaces to ERIS, with the ECG result and client query interfaces emphasized.