Interface Roadmap

This document provides a high-view of the integration process, and will lead you step-by-step through building an interface with SOAPware® through the SOAPwareXchangeHL7 module.

First step: SOAPwareXchangeHL7 Specifications

The SOAPware® Integration Package includes a set of specifications for SOAPwareXchangeHL7.The first thing you will want to do is review these specifications.You will find they are very "vanilla"; we estimate this interface works with 85-90% of commercial laboratories.A sample result file is also included, to help you see the final product and how the specifications can be executed.

Comparing your output files to the sample result and the specification will give you a good, quick view of what adjustments will be needed for your results to successfully parse through SOAPwareXchangeHL7.

Integration Tips & Tricks

Also included in the package is a tips & tricks document.This document lays out some of the most common problems we have encountered in years of compatibility testing.It will tell you where certain fields are absolutely essential, and why.It will also tell you about certain fields that have uses in the final report.After you have adjusted your output files to meet the specs and sample, this document will help you fine-tune it to avoid problems.

Interface Testing

Now that you have insured your files are compliant, it's time to test them against the actual engine.You will also need to decide on your communications method.Collect your sample set together and send them to Integrations@soapware.com, along with your communications method.If you will be using TCP, be sure to send us the port number you will be sending on.If you will be using a file-based method, let us know which directory you will be depositing files to.Our interface team will run them through the SOAPwareXchangeHL7 engine, and send you back the generated reports, along with any errors or problems noted.At this point you can compare the output reports to your messages, and make sure everything looks good.If you decide to make any changes to your files to tweak the output, feel free to send more samples for testing.

Deployment

After the interface testing is complete, we are ready to deploy the interface.With the communications information you sent before, our support team will install and configure the SOAPwareXchangeHL7 module for the site.At this point messages can be sent to the site.

If you wish to conduct onsite testing, we recommend sending results for a test patient.This test patient can then be mapped to a test chart in SOAPware®, and the results checked for accuracy.

At this point you are ready to go live with the results interface.  Congratulations!