HL7 Importer

Revision as of 11:35, 9 September 2013

Scheme

MedITEX HL7 Importer - Scheme

Configuration

General Settings

General On/Off-Switch	Activates or deactivates the HL7-Server
MedITEX IVF: PMI_HL7 active	Indicates whether your IVF tool is preconfigured for the import of additional patients data and therefore provides a special interface.
Protocol Level	Default setting is 'Errors, Hints and Debug Information'. After the testing phase please switch to 'Only Errors' in order to reduce traffic and data storage.
IP-Address	The IP address of the server where Importer is running. Default is 'localhost' (or 127.0.0.1).
Number of Instances	Defines the number of asynchronous communication queues (threads). Default is 1.
Number of Interfaces	Defines the number of protocols that can be interpreted. Default is 1 (HL7).
Listen queue (max)	The maximum of entries in the listener buffer (FIFO buffer).
Terminate wait time	Defines the maximum delay in milliseconds to receive messages from the queue. Default is 10000 msec.
Thread delay	Defines the delay in milliseconds to give work time for other treads. Default is 100 msec.
Reply ACK delay	Defines the delay in milliseconds to finish a processed message. Default is 250 msec.

COM Definitions

Tab	Item	Description
Instances	Instance Nr.	Automatic counter
	Active	Yes or No
	Port	The client - server communications port
Interfaces	Interface Nr.	Automatic counter
	Active	Yes or No
	Protocol	Active protocol (In this version only HL7. In future versions also XML and SOAP)
	Version	Active version
	Libary	The name of the DLL which coummunicates with the database (Database-IN module)

Additional Settings

Additional settings to save log files, make statistics and check the consistency of incoming data.

Saving

Item	Description
Save Level	Each processed message can be saved with more or less information. Default is 'Errors, Hints and Debug Information'. After the testing phase switch to 'Only Errors'.
Save info for statistics	An additional feature to gain statistical information of the processed messages.
Automatically load protocol file	An additional feature to display then message processing in the user interface of MexHL7Importer. The output will be according to the selection in section 'Save Level'.

Patient Conditions

Items	Description
Minimum Length of Patient Identifier	High level check whether the message details are valid to be inserted or updated in the MedITEX IVF database. If the length of the patient’s identifier is less than defined, an insert or update will be refused.
Age Range (min / max)	High level check whether the current age in within the defined range.
Minimum Set of Fields	High level check whether the message details are valid to be inserted or updated in the MedITEX IVF database. If the incoming data has no values in the defined fields, an insert or update will be refused.

LAB Data Conditions

Items	Description
Use first available Patient ID	A HL7 message can provide more than one possible Patient ID because the same message can trigger several target systems wherein a Patient ought to be matched via it’s ID.
Use Patient ID associated with IdentifierTypeCode	If provided more than one Patient ID, each of them should be followed by a so called 'Identifier Code'- which is nothing else than a second match code to decide which of the given Patient IDs is the right one for your system.
Save Parameters as “Something else” if they can not be matched	Laboratory parameters are divided into several parameter groups: Hormone, Serology, Clinical chemistry, Genetics, Microbiology or 'Something else'. A laboratory parameter consists of a so called short form, a long from, a unit and a value. The short form must be transmitted within the HL7 message and defined in the target system … this is the way parameters are matched. If this matching fails the parameter can be imported as “Something else” - what in each case demands a following manual correction.
Import Notes from NTE Structure	Additional information from the examining laboratory – as a non-formatted text - can be imported in memo fields of the target system.
Abnormal Flags	Defines whether a given parameter value is inside a normal range or outside. These flags can be used to change flags in the target system.
Date Format	Describes the textual form of date and time information: YYYY (year) MM (month) DD (day) HH (hour) NN (minute) SS (second).

DB Access

Connection parameters to access the MedITEX IVF database:

Item	Description
Alias	The database alias. Default is ART.
Server	The server address on which the Firebird server runs. Default is 'localhost' (or 127.0.0.1).
Charset	The character set according to your language. Ask your support for additional help.
Client Library	The name of the Firebird client library. Default is fbClient.dll (older versions use gds32.dll).
Backup Start	If a backup task is defined type in the start time. This leads to a smarter and faster check whether database changings can be processed.
Backup End	See description for point above.
Force restart	During the processing of HL7 messages the memory usage of the HL7-Server increases continuously … not much, but it does. Therefore the time when backup is running can be used for a save restart of the HL7-Server.
DB Access	Strongly recommended: No access to database if backup is running should be checked!

Service

(requires MexHL7Service.exe)

Item	Description
Install service	Requires MexHL7Service.exe and provides a so called background service, with full functionality, no interface, no login necessary. If successfully installed you can see a new entry in your service panel: MexHL7 Service.
Uninstall service	Uninstalls the MexHL7 Service.
Start service	Starts the MexHL7 Service.
Stop service	Stops the MexHL7 Service.
Automatically Interface in notification area	Provides an icon in the taskbar that indicates that the service is running and provides a GUI for configuration and statistics. This won’t work with the new Microsoft UAC technology … older operating systems like Windows XP support this feature. *Try it and if you don’t see the MexHL7 Icon please uncheck this feature.*

Support

You can send protocol, statistic and log files to your support. Fill this formular in order to provide a smart email generator.

Item	Description
Your Name	Type in any name you want to describe your clinic
Your Email	Your email address
Email Body	Any email body
Receiver	Default: <a href="mailto:support@critex.de">support@critex.de</a>

Application

Description of the MedITEX HL7 Importer Application GUI.

To run the MexHL7Importer – after the configuration has been done – it is only necessary to click the 'Start Server' button. The screenshot bellow shows activity and data protocolling. Content depends on what has been defined in the configuration section.

Each pair of data (HL7 message & transformation into importable data) is – if configured – saved in a protocol file which has been named with a tamestamp. In this file you have the possibility to check when and which HL7 message data caused which import or change of MedITEX IVF data.

Statistical data – if configured – is automatically saved and compiled in order to provide a brief overview and a detailed table (as you can see below). For example:

Since the server was started, a total of 1373 HL7 messages were received, out of which a total of 37 errors occurred and finally 6 modifications of MedITEX IVF data have eventually been made.

Item	Description
DLL Errors	Occur if any low level communication fails (tcpIP, ports , sockets, …).
Data Errors	Occur if the consistency check of incoming data discovers missing information (a data field with no value) or invalid information (letters where only numbers were expected or violations of minimum or maximum definitions).
Updates	Updates are only triggered if the associated patient already exists in the MedITEX IVF patient table.
Edits	Edits are triggered if the associated patient exists in the MedITEX IVF buffer table.
Inserts	Inserts into the so called buffer table are processed if the associated patient could not be found in both tables (patient table and buffer table).
Modifies	Whether triggered 'Updates' or 'Edits' are finally processed is decided dependent of the data field values. If no modifications of data are found no change of the database is performed.

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