Sending ADT data using XML

[Thomas Fortino]

Hello All,

  We have a new vendor requesting ADT data using XLM. I have never built anything in Cloverleaf that required XML. All our interfaces have been HL7 2.x via TCP/IP with MLP encapsulation.

The vendor is requesting the ADT messeages be converted from HL7 to XML. Once the XML is constructed, it should be sent as a POST to the vendor provided URL. The data is posted through the HTTPS protocol.

Since this is not our standard and I have a short turn around time, I can use any information from anyone who has done this type of interface. This is a clean slate for me and would appreciate any input on protocols, translation builds, encryption, etc.

Topic

[Bill Bertera]

They should give you a DTD or a Schema to define the XML. If you can get that, you should just be able to compile it in the XML compiler GUI, then use the Transalation Config to map the HL7 to the XML fields. The biggest thing is getting the vendor to provide you the DTD or Schema. A DTD is easier to use and understand, but a Schema is more powerful.

[Mike Shoemaker]

I spent a while going nuts trying to “compile the dtd”…I ended up giving up on the XML part of cloverleaf.  I worte a generic TPS procedure that basically rewrites an HL7 message out as an XML document according to thier schema/dtd.  Its very customized to this 1 particular interface and incredibly inefficient but it does work.  Getting the message to a webservice with the HTTP-CLient protocol was no picnic either.  In the end, the XML part was abandoned and now I am using a tcl object at the end of the tps to post ADT messages to a webservice.  Let me know if you need more specifics.

[Jim Kosloskey]

Mike,

What release of Cloverleaf when you tried XML?

Jim Kosloskey

email: jim.kosloskey@jim-kosloskey.com 29+ years Cloverleaf, 59 years IT - old fart.

[Mike Shoemaker]

Hey Jim,   I’m running 5.3 and i’m sure with a little more focus on my part i could have made it work, the documentation was “ify” at best and time was limited.  It was much easier to use pure tcl and get the project moving. Thier xml file was not very involved, abotu 20 fields in total. In addition to the cloverleaf side of things, there was minimal support from the receiving end.  I think the webdev guys here were expecting something magical from XML and thier fancy .Net stuff.  The only magic was that it kept them from having to write an HL7 parser but forced me to write an xml proc. There was even a look of shock and horror when i asked them for tcpip port to send messages to.

Mike

[Author]

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