Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust Formulating a strategy for systems integration and selecting an integration engine Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS? Buy an Integration Engine and develop interfaces in-house –Cost effective if more than one interface –Very scalable Find a supplier to build interfaces –Can be expensive if more than one interface needed if interface requirements change

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust WHY DOES THE NHS NEED TO INVEST IN INTEGRATION ENGINES? Information Governance: improving data quality Payment by Results 18 Week Pathway To enable NHS Connecting for Health projects via existing systems integration

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust WHAT IS AN INTEGRATION ENGINE? An interface engine is a software program designed to simplify the creation and management of interfaces between separate applications and systems within an organization. Interface engines for Healthcare: 21st Century Trends. McLeod CG, Inc., 2004

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust Interface engines for Healthcare: 21st Century Trends. McLeod CG, Inc., 2004 t

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust Interface engines for Healthcare: 21st Century Trends. McLeod CG, Inc., 2004

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust Integration Engine Procurement What needs to go into the Output Based Specification?

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS CORE REQUIREMENTS Ease of use –User-friendly tools for developing/maintaining interfaces between existing systems Extensibility and scalability: –Ability to develop, maintain and extend any number of interfaces in-house Future Proof –Plug-ins/Adaptors for new/updated message standards

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust Example: User-friendly interface development environment INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS CORE REQUIREMENTS

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust Interface Engine, handles –Communication between systems –Message routing –Inter-format mapping –Persistent message delivery Administration tools –GUI toolsets to develop / manage interfaces Monitoring tools –Monitor system logs and error conditions –Manage the re-sending of messages INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS CORE REQUIREMENTS

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust Audit and monitoring tools –Interface engine monitoring screen(s) –Message tracking / Audit trails –Performance monitoring tools –Reporting tools for analysing trends INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS CORE REQUIREMENTS

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust Example: Interface engine monitoring screen INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS CORE REQUIREMENTS

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust Example: Interface audit monitoring screen INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS CORE REQUIREMENTS

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust Reliable / Guaranteed delivery –Message queues (persist messages until delivery confirmed) –Ability to resend unacknowledged messages (No of re-tries should be configurable) –Encryption (guarantee message is not altered in transit) INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS CORE REQUIREMENTS

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust Error / Exception handling –Audit logs –Error logs –Error Queues –Ability to edit and resend messages –Ability to configure system / write scripts to handle specific error conditions INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS CORE REQUIREMENTS

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust Ability to enforce the order in which messages are processed –eg. First In, First Out (FIFO) messaging where sequencing of messages is critical INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS CORE REQUIREMENTS

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust Data mapping / conversion toolsets Example: Map Openlink message to equivalent HL7 message for test patient INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS CORE REQUIREMENTS

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS STANDARDS Conformance with key NHS information / messaging standards, including –HL7v2.x –EDIFACT –ASTM

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS STANDARDS Conformance to the NHS messaging standards being developed by CfH, ie: HL7v3 (NPfIT Message Implementation Manual (MIM))

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS STANDARDS Other standards –Conformance with e-GIF standards –Conformance with proprietary messaging standards, such as Openlink Other requirements –Check whether required Web Services protocols are supported SOAP, WSDL, UDDI etc. –Check whether required operating systems are supported

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust Integration Engine Procurement Other considerations

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust PROCURING AN INTEGRATION ENGINE OTHER CONSIDERATIONS Customer base –Check whether the supplier has a proven track record in healthcare integration Re-usable libraries –Check whether product has HL7 adaptors, libraries, and other plug-ins bundled into the product Skills –Check what skills will be needed to use the product, and whether they are available in-house

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust Licensing costs Support and maintenance costs What levels of customer support are available? –Standard hours or 24x7? Implementation costs –Does any interface development need to be out-sourced?. Training needs PROCURING AN INTEGRATION ENGINE OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust PROCURING AN INTEGRATION ENGINE ESTABLISHING LIFETIME COSTS Ask the suppliers to include their lifetime costs for all components in the OBS / tender response.

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust Integration Engine Procurement Potential issues

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust INTEGRATION ENGINE ISSUES RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION Core skills - in short supply –Systems integration experience (ideally NHS) –Healthcare standards (HL7v2.x, HL7v3 etc) –Microsoft.NET –Java –Enterprise development (Oracle/SQL Server) Potentially rising demand for skilled staff –NCRS roll-out, PbR, 18 Week Pathway etc Agenda for Change –can NHS salaries compete with private sector?

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust Integration Engine Procurement UK Marketplace

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust INTEGRATION ENGINES UK HEALTHCARE MARKETPLACE

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust SUMMARY Evaluate local integration requirements Decide whether to: a)Develop interfaces in-house, or b)Find a supplier to build interfaces If option (a) preferred –Write output based specification for an integration engine and test the marketplace –Ensure sufficient skills in-house to both develop and maintain interfaces

Philip Firth IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust Questions?