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@wwl.nhs.uk
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
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS
CORE REQUIREMENTS
Example: User-friendly interface development environment
Philip Firth
IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager
Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS
CORE REQUIREMENTS
• 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
Philip Firth
IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager
Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS
CORE REQUIREMENTS
• Audit and monitoring tools
– Interface engine monitoring screen(s)
– Message tracking / Audit trails
– Performance monitoring tools
– Reporting tools for analysing trends
Philip Firth
IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager
Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS
CORE REQUIREMENTS
Example: Interface engine monitoring screen
Philip Firth
IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager
Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS
CORE REQUIREMENTS
Example: Interface audit monitoring screen
Philip Firth
IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager
Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS
CORE REQUIREMENTS
• 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)
Philip Firth
IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager
Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS
CORE REQUIREMENTS
• 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
Philip Firth
IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager
Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS
CORE REQUIREMENTS
• Ability to enforce the order in which messages are
processed
– eg. First In, First Out (FIFO) messaging where
sequencing of messages is critical
Philip Firth
IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager
Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust
INTEGRATION ENGINE COMPONENTS
CORE REQUIREMENTS
• Data mapping / conversion toolsets
Example: Map Openlink message to equivalent HL7 message for test patient
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
PROCURING AN INTEGRATION ENGINE
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
• 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
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?
Philip Firth
IM&T Strategy Implementation Manager
Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust