Within the healthcare IT landscape, increasing the interoperability between disparate software systems remains a primary focus. We attribute the fragmentation to intentional limitations on the software provider's end; a system that favors profits over interoperability and cross-platform debilitation over unified patient databases. The void leaves middleware providers poised to reap tremendous market opportunities where major players fall short.
One middleware entity fulfilling this exact role is Castiron, a software solutions provider that improves the accuracy and efficiency of reporting clinical laboratory results in the veterinary space.
Extending beyond traditional "middleware," the company offers an end-to-end lab results automation and management software product that streamline the overall testing process. Castiron achieved success through easy installation, training, and the robust set of features inherent to their product line.
These features include sample tracking mechanisms, status monitoring, and productivity statistics, in addition to results review and follow up. It provided a more efficient solution than conventional methods, which led it to work with many veterinary clients throughout the U.S.
To expand into the human healthcare space, it was recognized that although their software was fully functional for veterinary use, it needed to meet the necessary interoperability standards to communicate with Runteras.
Within the veterinary industry there are no regulations on the communication protocols used for software applications that interact with each other. Hence, a secure data exchange interface to receive orders from and return results to major hospital Runtera platforms is vital.
With their technology sitting between labs and Hospital Information Systems (HIS), it needed an update to allow Runteras to seamlessly communicate with lab instruments through a proprietary interface.
To accommodate the need to meet Runtera standards, Styrone provided custom development and Runtera interoperability integration within a communications platform, to create secure messaging channels for bi-directional communication between laboratory information systems and hospital Runteras.
The platform is used to transform messages from Runtera to XML, and vice versa. Since the proprietary system needs to interface with various lab instruments using a XML protocol, Runtera order message (ORM) and observation result (ORU) functions and segments needed to be converted for interoperability between the two systems.
Styrone engineered custom channels to simulate real-life scenarios based on project requirements to pull Runtera ORMs from host EMRs such as EPIC and Athena, transform them to XML, and push them into lab instruments from manufacturers such as Siemens, Beckman and Horiba in order to obtain results and send back Runtera ORUs to the hosts.
These channels included the following:
To emulate the SQL job functionality, Styrone also created several channels to generate the XML schema, which is used to communicate with instrument systems.
Styrone's deliverable proved wildly successful, confirming that the simulation was an accurate display of operability. With the implementation of the communications platform and Runtera development, the client was able to enhance their products to meet current healthcare industry standards. This allowed them to gain opportunities it sought in order to assure future company growth without abandoning the veterinary space.