PercipEnz, the OnCore People

The OnCore Integration Framework

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The Problem

Over the last decade, the amount of data generated through the conduct of clinical trials has exponentially increased. Also, during this time, electronic medical record and laboratory systems have proliferated. This means that increasingly more data is being handled by research centers and that more data exists in electronic format at their associated hospitals. However, many of these systems remain isolated or only nominally linked to other systems.

Today, there remains ample opportunity for organizations to leverage their existing investments in technology to the benefit of their research centers by integrating these diverse systems. Through integration, centers eliminate costs associated with duplicate data entry, errors associated with manual transcription, and the inherent latency of a manual process.

However, the typical integration project of today leaves much to be desired. With customized integration projects, each link created between two systems is hand-crafted at considerable cost. Customized solutions are time and effort intensive. And, when they are complete, they cannot be leveraged to create the next link.

The Solution

The OnCore Integration Framework provides a set of standard mechanisms that simplify the process of connecting local systems to OnCore. These include:

  1. Support for multiple data formats.
  2. Mapping tool for harmonizing data elements.
  3. Data channels for handling different categories of data.
  4. Application Program Interfaces (APIs) for managing each data channel.

The figure below illustrates the main components of the OnCore Integration Framework and their relationships.

Support for Multiple Data Formats

With its modular approach, the OnCore Integration Framework offers the flexibility to integrate with data sources of virtually any format. Whether the data is provided in HL7 messages, non-HL7 data streams, spreadsheets, databases, or internal Web Service Definition Language (WSDL) messages, OnCore has a mechanism to receive, manage, and incorporate the incoming data.

Mapping Tool for Harmonizing Data Elements

The mapping tool, XMAPS, within the OnCore Integration Framework gives centers the ability to address nuances specific to their local system. If the source data to be interfaced is not consistent with how the same data is represented within OnCore, then XMAPS provides the means to map and transform the incoming data. For example, Race codes in an ADT message would need to be mapped to the NIH recommended Race codes that are used by OnCore.

Data Channels for Handling Different Categories of Data

Each area of integration, such as labs or demographics, is represented by an integration channel within the OnCore Integration Framework. These channels receive and store incoming data and ensure that it is delivered to OnCore in a consistent and reliable manner. In order to ensure HIPAA compliance and other access constraints, source data is protected and managed by the OnCore security framework.

Application Program Interfaces (APIs) for Managing Each Data Channel

Each integration channel is supported through a set of internal APIs. The APIs can be used to either automate the process of determining what data becomes part of OnCore or, if necessary, allow users to review the data to manually determine what should be transferred to OnCore.

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