Top Three Considerations for Selecting an Integration Engine

Whether your healthcare organization is migrating data to a new EHR, aiming to meet interconnectivity goals, or integrating disparate systems during a merger, acquisition, or other transition, it is important to consider upgrading your integration engine to meet expanding interoperability demands. Before making the switch, prioritize these three must-haves when selecting a new healthcare data integration solution.

1. Data Accessibility Improvement

When selecting an integration engine, it is essential to prioritize a user-friendly system. This solution should feature intuitive functionality (i.e. drag-and-drop) and configuration capabilities, with options for additional code customization. With easy-to-use features, an integration engine can provide end users with consistent access to quality data.

Additionally, an integration engine should be vendor-neutral, easily sharing and managing data regardless of an organization’s EHR system or various applications. It must support a multitude of data formats and web services while maintaining compatibility with industry standards. By selecting a robust integration engine, healthcare organizations can maintain data accessibility and integrity throughout any system upgrade or transition.

2. Optimization of Care Decision-Making and Patient Care Quality

A comprehensive integration engine plays a critical role in delivering high-quality patient care. When selecting a solution, look for an engine that enables a complete portrait of a patient’s care history, offering context and insights by connecting a multitude of relevant, up-to-date data sources. By facilitating a unified view of patient data, an effective integration engine improves clinical decision-making and coordinated care while also enhancing workflow efficiency. Ultimately, this will improve patient care at your organization.

3. Emphasis on Security, Reliability, and Availability

Healthcare organizations must invest in an EHR integration engine that provides secure and reliable data exchange. Given the sensitivity of healthcare data, the integration solution should be equipped with robust security features. Consider selecting a solution with encryption, authentication tools, or an account lockout threshold. These features will greatly reduce the risk of unauthorized data access or theft of patient information.

Additionally, healthcare organizations should select integration engines with high uptime to ensure product stability. Beyond high uptime, the engine should have the ability to operate without internet connection. Furthermore, seek a vendor who offers 24/7 support, proactively addresses system issues, and plans for regular system updates — ensuring your organization receives the greatest value from its purchase.

Without effective integration tools, keeping up with advancing healthcare interoperability demands can be a major challenge. By focusing on these three components during NextGen, MEDITECH, Oracle Cerner, Athena, or Epic integration engine selection, your healthcare organization can deliver seamless data exchange, no matter how expectations evolve. 

Seeking a healthcare integration engine? Contact us today to get started with CareBridge.