[Talk] Request for general advice on MT/Picis interfacing

[James Gill]

Hello All,     I am new to this community and to BWS.  I am an interface specialist for an anesthesia information system vendor.  We are currently beginning the implementation for our first MediTech (ADT and billing) and Picis (OR scheduling) hospital and we are responsible for the interfaces.  So, never having used BWS to handle such interfaces, I’m looking for some advice as to how difficult/easy the development process is, how much time/manpower it takes to maintain these interfaces, etc.  I would greatly appreciate any “unbiased” advice as to the benefits, difficulties, etc involved.  As a vendor, I’m concerned about having ample resources to maintain more than one of these accounts as we potentially grow our MT/Picis customer base.   Here are some specific details:     Details of the customer environment: ADT – MT Magic v4.9  (NOT client server) – we will take inbound ADT from this HIS system OR Scheduling – Picis (don’t know version yet; but, it is a new install/implementation, so I’m assuming it is the “latest”) – we will take inbound OR schedules from them. Billing – we will send anesthesia charge utilization information back to the hospital patient accounting system        Basic questions: How much time and effort is involved in the development of each of these interfaces listed?  I’m looking for a general guideline here - Days, weeks, months? Is the outbound billing into Meditech any more troublesome than the inbounds? Once developed and in-place, how much time and resources are required to “maintain” the interface?  Is the “screen scraping” solution a maintenance nightmare – or not that bad?  I am concerned about having the time and resources to fix scripts every time a screen changes, etc. (especially as we potentially gain new MT/Picis accounts and may have limited resources for maintaining scripts). How many times per year do MT/Picis change/upgrade their software?  In other words, how often do you have to update your scripts?  Once every week or two, once/month?  2 or 3 times/year?? As a vendor, and not a hospital/customer, I am a little concerned about the “support” I would receive from MT/Picis upon an update of their software.  Do any of you ever typically have trouble finding details about software changes so that you know “how” to update your scripts? How do you typically find out that you need to update your scripts?  For example, it is because something breaks and you have to fix it (with little or not much warning) – or – are script updates typically done in anticipation/rollout of a new MT/Picis version? Does it typically require a full-time person (or just part-time) to maintain these interfaces and keep the scripts up to date? Are there any other specific problems/issues a “first timer” like myself might want to be aware of going into our first such account?       Thanks in advance for any advice you may have!   Jimmy Gill Software Engineer DocuSys, Inc. (864) 332-6473