Connecting Data Interfaces

Overview

Sharing critical information on the health care events and outcomes of the patients that an organization serves with the statewide Health Information Exchange (HIE) helps to build a critical health information resource that can provide invaluable insights into the quality, safety, and delivery of patient care and population health.

In an effort to ensure that participants have the necessary resources in place to support their connection of available data interface(s), the following sections provide an overview of the expectations and activities involved in the onboarding process.

Project Expectations

Once participants' connections to the Clinical Portal have been established, they will reconvene with HealthInfoNet’s Onboarding Project Team to review and confirm the processes, resources, and dependencies involved in connecting data interfaces with the statewide HIE. Common topics explored during project kickoff meetings include:

• Confirming that all contracting necessary between participants and their electronic health record (EHR) vendors or other technical partners has been completed to support HIE data-sharing functions.

• Establishing roles and responsibilities among HealthInfoNet’s Onboarding Project Team and participants' business and technical leads and/or their vendors and partners.

  • HealthInfoNet requires participants to (a) assign an internal Project Manager and (b) work with their EHR vendors to assign a dedicated EHR Project Manager. These resources are critical in helping to convene required stakeholders, troubleshoot technical activities, and facilitate successful deliverables throughout the course of the onboarding project.

• Coordinating ongoing project check-in calls to monitor technical integration, validation outcomes, action items, and/or blockers.

• Confirming participants' technical connection capabilities for sharing their patients' health information with HealthInfoNet for inclusion within the HIE’s data warehouse, and the expectations and activities involved in validating the secure receipt, storage, and presentation of that information within the HIE’s services.

• Reviewing the communication-related obligations and options involved in participating with the statewide HIE, including privacy, security, and compliance requirements as well as relevant HIE references in State of Maine statutes.

Depending on participants' contractual circumstances and/or technical capabilities, topics included in the project kickoff meeting may vary and will be tailored accordingly with all involved stakeholders.

Implementation Activities

Following the project kickoff meeting, HealthInfoNet will collaborate with participants and their vendors and partners to establish secure system connectivity with the available data interface(s), validate the connected data interface(s), and receive go-live acceptance to formally enable HIE data-sharing capabilities. Common areas explored during technical implementation include:

• Secure Connection Options

  • VPN Connections

  • Web Services Connections (HTTPS, TLS)

• Sensitive Data Blocking & Sequestering Requirements

• Validation Requirements

Secure Connection Options

HealthInfoNet currently accepts patients' health information from participants’ EHR systems and reference laboratories in Health Level Seven (HL7) v.2.x and Consolidated Clinical Document Architecture (CCDA) formatted clinical data sets. For each standard, the following secure connection options are available to support HIE data exchange:

Once a connection method has been established, participants must validate the connection by:

• Performing a connection test (ping, Telnet) to the Test and Production interface IP(s).

• Sending a test file to the specified data port(s)

At this time, CCDA formatted clinical data sets are not compatible with the HIE’s Health Analytics Reporting Platform (HARP). Participants that would like to access HARP need to support HL7 data interface(s). For more information, see the section on Connecting to the Health Analytics Reporting Platform.

Sensitive Data Blocking & Sequestering Requirements

Before sharing patients' health information with HealthInfoNet for inclusion within the HIE’s data warehouse, participants’ compliance and technical integrations staff are tasked with implementing procedures for blocking and/or sequestering sensitive patient health information as required by HealthInfoNet’s HIE Participant Agreement and Maine state law.

HealthInfoNet requires data blocking and sequestering procedures for the following scenarios:

• Participants meeting the definition of a 42 C.F.R. Part 2 program

• Participants maintaining mental health data, including:

  • General medical organizations providing mental health services

  • Behavioral health organizations with a focus on providing mental health services

For a full understanding of HealthInfoNet’s requirements, please see the supporting material on Guidelines and Checklist for Blocking and Sequestering Certain Participant Sensitive Data.

Participants have an ongoing obligation to notify HealthInfoNet of any changes or updates to the specific provider licensure and/or department/location identifiers responsible for administering mental health services or if they are or become a 42 C.F.R. Part 2 program.

Participants can contact HealthInfoNet’s Integrations team at mapping_request@hinfonet.org to provide any changes or updates.

Validation Requirements

HealthInfoNet’s data validation requirements are intended to confirm the integrity and conformity of clinical data sets received from participants via their connected data interface(s). Standard validation procedures work through a variety of scenarios to attest that the appropriate technical connection configurations are in place between HealthInfoNet’s data integration engine and participants’ EHR systems, and that the transferred data sets are accurately reflected in the HIE’s services. Common objectives involved in the HIE’s data validation procedures include confirming that:

• Incoming data conforms to expected message standards.

• Information displayed in the HIE’s services (e.g., Clinical Portal, Health Analytics Reporting Platform, etc.) align with the information stored in participants’ EHR systems.

• Any raw values received from participants that are transformed into standard values by the HIE’s terminology management system match expected outputs.

• Deviations between source and target destinations are fully investigated and either remediated or understood before participants provide formal acceptance to release their data set to the HIE’s Production environment.

Following the project kickoff meeting, HealthInfoNet’s Onboarding Project Team will devise and share a detailed data validation plan tailored to participants' use cases, workflows, and technical capabilities.

Only once participants sign off on all validation scenarios in both the HIE’s Test and Production environments – and have given formal “go-live” acceptance in each environment – will their patients’ health information be fully integrated within the HIE’s services and become available to all HIE participants.

In order to successfully validate data interface(s) connections with HealthInfoNet, participants must:

• Identify a team member with authority to sign off on validation requirements and provide formal go-live acceptance.

• Assign internal resources familiar with clinical use cases and workflows (e.g., registering patients, admitting/discharging patients, adding/changing/removing data values and coding, etc.) to assist with performing the required data validation scenarios.

• Be familiar with EHR operations and functions, or be able to access the appropriate subject matter experts or support specialists, in order to ensure technical activities are completed as planned.

• Create multiple HIE-specific test patients according to requirements provided by HealthInfoNet’s Onboarding Project Team; real patient health information will not be accepted as a substitute for validation purposes.

Communication Requirements

Participants that are sharing data with the statewide HIE have a number of communication-related responsibilities that must be completed and/or considered prior to finalizing onboarding activities. Participants can learn more about their obligations and options by reviewing the section on Communicating HIE Participation to Staff & Patients.

Go-Live Acceptance

Once all required implementation activities and communication requirements have been completed, the onboarding project will be ready to be formally closed. At that time, HealthInfoNet’s Onboarding Project Manager will provide participants with a go-live acceptance form containing a high-level overview of accomplished tasks and a signature line where participants' authorized team members must attest that all activities have been fulfilled to their satisfaction and/or in accordance with the terms of the HIE’s Participant Agreement. Additionally, warm handoffs to HealthInfoNet’s Client Engagement (clientengagement@hinfonet.org) and Clinical Education (clinicaleducation@hinfonet.org) teams will be made to support participants' ongoing needs.

Next Steps

In addition to their access to the Clinical Portal, certain participants may also be eligible to obtain access to the HIE’s Health Analytics Reporting Platform (HARP). HARP contains a suite of use case-driven analytics tailored over the years in collaboration with our HIE participants to yield actionable insights into the quality, safety, and delivery of patient care and population health. Participants can learn more about the expectations and activities involved in obtaining access to the system by reviewing the section on Connecting to the Health Analytics Reporting Platform.