Anyone ever add an API Client or Web Service to their engine

[Bevan Richards]

We have a new client that says we must use their API Client to get orders and send results. Or use a web service.

Has anyone ever had an issue with something like this? I am not real comfortable adding something like this to the engine.

Topic

[Peter Kimbark]

Bevan,

Is their API a “Java” api?  

Pete

[Bevan Richards]

As told by the EMR provider: “client is Java-based”.

Does this make a difference?

[Terry Kellum]

You are probably referring to Practice Fusion.  We connected to them, and I solved it by putting the interface software on a separate linux box.  

It uses a file based method for transfer of HL7 results.  My solution was to implement the Java program as a service on the Linux box, and put individual transaction files into the appropriate directory.

There is an error directory that you have to set up and should watch.  They have a newer version of client for MU2 (2.5.1) that we have not yet implemented so I don’t know what other changes they may have made.

We wanted to put it on a separate (small) machine to insulate Cloverleaf from any negative interactions.

[Nick Schneider]

Hi Terry,

I was just asked about Practice Fusion and if we could interface to them so some of the independent doctors in our area could submit orders and get results back.  When I contacted their support they told me they couldn’t interface to cloverleaf which I think is baloney and apparently since you have I was correct in my assumption.  Unfortunately I’m still stuck on windows server 2008 for the engine.  Can you tell me what you had to do to get this connected?  At this point I have only received an inquiry from administration into whether we could make this happen or not.

Thanks,

Nick Schneider

[Bevan Richards]

I ended up setting up a virtual server with their API client on it. Then I write the HL7 messages out to a folder on my engine and transfer them into a folder on the other server to be picked up and handled with their API client.

Really is a pain, but I was not included in the decision making on this. Just told to make it work.

[Rob Lindsey]

For PracticeFusion you can use CURL to attach to the PF REST/SOAP service that they host to get Orders and to post results.  It is not extremely difficult to do, but there are a few things that caught us off guard.

Rob

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