HL7Receiver
The HL7Receiver is a Windows service which provides real-time patient information via an HL7 interface. This is something that most clinical systems have, and has proven to be invaluable for the RPA system.
Problem
To facilitate the development of automation within a large NHS hospital trust, the RPA system needs access to real-time patient data. Since Kofax RPA isn’t a clinical system, it doesn’t have HL7 capabilities built in, so an HL7 solution was needed.
Solution
I developed the HL7Receiver service as an HL7 interface for the RPA system (or any other system for that matter). This service will accept incoming HL7 messages from the Trust Integration Engine (TIE), then insert them into a Microsoft SQL Server database for use by the RPA system.
The service can be configured in many ways by using a built-in configuration tool, allowing for easy parsing of HL7 messages, and SQL configuration for different HL7 message types:
Technologies
I used several technologies to develop this service:
Microsoft .NET Framework / C#
I used the Microsoft .NET Framework to develop a Windows service written in C#. The configuration tool is also a C# .NET Forms application.
Microsoft SQL Server
The HL7Receiver feeds into a Microsoft SQL Server database. I designed the database tables for storing data from the service, and wrote the SQL for the HL7 interface.
HL7
The HL7Receiver service is designed to receive HL7 messages from an integration engine. This involved working closely with the Integration Team to develop a detailed HL7 interface specification for the RPA system, containing real-time patient data:
- Inpatient admission, discharge and transfer (ADT)
- Patient demographics
- Outpatient appointments
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