Hermitage Medical Clinic of Dublin, Ireland is committed to providing excellent patient care supported by the latest medical technology. To ensure an effective and efficient integration of GE Centricity and their new Meditech HIS, Hermitage selected iNTERFACEWARE's Iguana and Chameleon as their trusted integration solution.
The Hermitage Medical Clinic in Dublin is one of only four private hospitals in Ireland's otherwise public health care system. As such, it is critical that the roll-out of its major hospital and departmental systems and interfaces proceed efficiently and with a minimum of downtime.
Hermitage CIO, Mike Gogola, an accomplished veteran with 24 Meditech hospital implementations to his credit, has had two of his hospitals honored with Hospitals & Health Networks (H&HN) "100 Most Wired Hospitals" award. Brought in to ensure the effective roll- out of IT systems and services at Hermitage, he faced several daunting challenges, including the lack of trained Meditech personnel and the lack of staff with HL7 expertise.
Mike explains, "...Simply filling beds in a hospital helps one approach break-even. However, as a private facility, it is critical that we get our core diagnostic services, especially diagnostic imaging, up and running quickly and effectively."
Part of the implementation strategy required the speedy integration of a GE Centricity RIS/PACS with Hermitage's new Meditech HIS. Access to trained integration staff was limited, and it followed that the integration engine to be used needed to be intuitive, accommodate different dialects of HL7 (GE's HL7 Version 2.3 and Meditech's HL7 Version 2.4), and not require extensive training. An initial quotation of approximately £50,000.00 (US $100,000.00) was rejected as being over budget and having too long an implementation cycle. Looking for a better, more cost effective solution, Mike searched on-line and was soon communicating with iNTERFACEWARE's VP of European Sales.
Following several discussions and an on-line demo, Mike settled on iNTERFACEWARE's Iguana and Chameleon for the integration. Mike understandably had some concerns given the differences in time zones and distance. However, he was impressed by iNTERFACEWARE's commitment "...to make this work." Notes Eliot Muir, CEO of iNTERFACEWARE, "...customers looking for solutions need to feel confident that they are making the right decision. Our confidence in our tools is such that we are able to guarantee a successful outcome for customers like Hermitage."
It was also important that iNTERFACEWARE's Iguana and Chameleon products allowed for quick and non-disruptive adjustments to address the complexities of a multi-system set of interfaces. As Mike noted, "Anytime you have more players, the integration equation becomes more complicated as vendors on either side upgrade and customize systems over time."
Brian Nelligan, one of the Meditech experts brought in by Mike Gogola, was tasked with implementing the interfaces. He used both Chameleon and Iguana and notes: "I was not an interface Guru. These were the right products and iNTERFACEWARE was the right company to help me get the job done."
It started with the training. To quote Brian, "The training was put together extremely well. I am new to HL7 and I appreciated that training was segmented in two sections. The first was an HL7 overview and the second entailed more in- depth coverage of the actual interfaces I wished to implement. The combination of remote training and the ability to go back and 'replay' my own training videos was extremely useful for reviewing areas I was unclear on. I found it far superior to taking notes in a lecture-type training session. You don't miss anything and notes are not as accurate or clear when you go back and review them later."
Brian went on to speak about the implementation and noted that, "With iNTERFACEWARE's help, we got this all done in six weeks which is unprecedented. Moreover, because of the hospital's security, at no time did iNTERFACEWARE have direct access, so it was necessary to work through me to implement any changes at all times. iNTERFACEWARE always made themselves available despite the time difference."
When asked what he liked about the tools he noted: "I loved the fact that I could test out any small change without needing to recompile and reinstall. I did not even have to save the configuration I was working on to test out my changes. I could see the results immediately." He observed that Iguana's Error Logs did a good job revealing any issues and that Iguana's Message Transformation feature was a joy to use. "I was easily able to take Meditech's version of HL7 and transform it into different versions for input into GE and IMPAC. I also appreciated the fact that I could use message filters to funnel ADT to more than one application, saving the hospital significant time and cost."
"What was estimated to take four months of implementation time, took six weeks. Because of iNTERFACEWARE, a major obstacle became a minor speed bump."
The five interfaces were successfully implemented using Iguana and/or Chameleon including: ADT interfaces from Meditech to GE Centricity RIS/PACS and to IMPAC, Orders to GE Centricity RIS/PACS, ORM status from GE Centricity to Meditech and results reports from GE Centricity to Meditech's Image Therapy Module.
Physicians and surgeons (now) have on-line access to clinical information and diagnostic images at any workstation, including at the bedside and in operating rooms.
Overall, Mike Gogola summed up his relationship with iNTERFACEWARE as "...a very positive experience. What was estimated to take four months of implementation time, took six weeks. Because of iNTERFACEWARE, a major obstacle became a minor speed bump."
Mike's confidence in the tools is such that he is proposing they be used to integrate disperse physicians' practices with Hermitage for patient registrations and Lab and radiology results.
iNTERFACEWARE™ Inc. is a global leader in the development of integration solutions that reduce the time, cost and risk associated with healthcare interoperability. Since our inception in 1997, we have remained dedicated to simplifying the process of healthcare integration through the development of innovative technology and knowledge-rich service offerings.
Tel: 1-888-824-6785 | 416-703-7709
Email: 
Designed specifically for the challenges of healthcare interoperability, the Iguana Integration Engine maximizes your team's productivity during every stage of integration. Trusted globally by hospitals, laboratories, software vendors, HIEs and government health departments, Iguana is a new breed of integration engine that is delivering unparalleled results and ROI.
For further information, visit: http://www.interfaceware.com/iguana.html
Contact Support