System Integration
Integrating with existing hospital systems effectively is vital to the success of a self-service project. Appointment information may be held in several different locations and needs to be found and extracted in real-time.
Many of these locations, such as the Radiology System or National Breast Screening system can communicate with the outside world using standard message formats such as the HL7 framework – but others may be more proprietary and require more complex integration methods.
Intouch Infrastructure and Integration can also support robotic technology supplied through our partnership with Blue Prism, and our WebServices module where local IT resources are available to utilise these processes.
Intouch Infrastructure and Integration recognise that one self check-in integration solution does not fit every customer, and therefore offer a range of proven integration solutions that have allowed us to successfully integrate with every system we have encountered to date, across varying budgets.
These options include:
Direct HL7 integration
Intouch will work with your PAS (Patient Administration System) supplier to create a dedicated link between the Intouch product suite and the Trust’s back-end information system via the chosen integration engine. The Intouch Infrastructure and Integration engine embeds technology from InterSystems or Slainte Healthcare to offer customers an industry standard, managed integration solution that can read and write both arrival and demographic data.
CSV or SQL integration
By talking to existing extracts of data, for example from an NHS Trust’s data warehouse, we can read appointment and patient data whilst leaving the operational systems untouched, either in real time or on a batch basis.
Virtual Agents
Intouch partners with Blue Prism. Blue Prism is an object-orientated presentation layer integration toolset that provides bi-directional communication with a PAS or other systems using a ‘virtual administrator’. Blue Prism uniquely allows the Intouch product suite to communicate with back-end systems without any integration work needed by the supplier. This can avoid spending time and costs on APIs which the supplier is reluctant to open up. With many customers this approach has allowed a fully functional integrated self check-in solution which would otherwise be impossible to deliver.
Intouch has a wealth of experience of integrating to a wide range of NHS applications using a range of methods to streamline connectivity between multiple legacy systems. Our experienced and dedicated team of integration specialists is able to develop solutions to short time-scales which offer a rapid return on investment.
- Clear, accurate view of a patient’s location in the hospital or clinic.
- Icons indicate if a patient needs special assistance and any demographic changes.
- Multiple user profiles to allow required access levels and functions.
- Manage complex clinical pathways.
- Appointments held on different systems can be managed through the Flow Manager Dashboard.