How to send patient data from an EMR after registering patient

Question

After registering a patient in my office I want to create a new patient record or login for the patient automatically from my EMR. How can I add this function to my existing EMR running on MS Cloud platform?

Answer 1

Hi Mike,

Is your current application already connected to Microsoft HealthVault?

If not, the HealthVault SDK is a good place to start. If you need assistance with building a HealthVault enabled application, you may ask questions in this forum, or one of the consultants in our consultant directory will be able to help.

Thanks
Santhosh

Answer 2

I have the SDK installed. I created a new web project. I used my Godaddy .cer and all worked OK. I then created a new Azure webrole and tried to integrate the code from the healthvault project into the webrole. I was unable to access Healthvault. I followed the sample from -

http://healthblog.vitraag.com/2009/10/healthvault-apps-on-windows-azure/. My objective is to integrate my existing Azure EHR webservices with healthvault. When a physician starts my application client he/she is provided a login screen and can register a patient or access the patient existing record. My first accomplishment is to register the patient and send the registration data to healthvault so the patient can access the data. Since we have several office users and physicians we may register 5-10 patients when they visit the office. When I run the application that I published to Azure it does not access Healthvault. How is the connection to healthvault made? What do you do after the connection. Please remember that on the first visit the patient is not registered. Do i first register patient then create the registration data.?

Answer 3

I found most of my answers in this document :http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en/healthvault/thread/f37a79f0-c7ed-4ca2-8a1b-78f6613385be

"Application Connection Recommendations for applications that connect with Microsoft HealthVault"  The model I am using is the Linking model. Described as follows:

Linking Applications enable you to access your users‟ HealthVault records even when they are not actively using the application. When the user connects
to HealthVault from your application the first time, they enable the “link” between your application and their record by authorizing access to their records.
From then on, the application has access to that user‟s HealthVault records—it can read or update the records without the user having to sign in.
In this model, applications usually have their own local data store and they either want to copy data to or from
 HealthVault as needed, or maintain a synchronized copy of the user‟s HealthVault record.
Usually, these applications require users to have their own custom username and password to log in to the application, and they want to avoid having
 users log in to HealthVault every time. Instead, the user is asked to set up the connection only once—he can sign up or sign in to HealthVault, select
a record, and authorize the application for access to it—and from then on, he will no longer be prompted to log in to HealthVault from within the application.
Behind the scenes, the application is able to read or write data to that user‟s HealthVault record at any time.

Because of the optimal user experience that this model offers, it is powerful and preferred by application designers for various integration scenarios. However,
it is important that the application development team understand
their increased responsibility for protecting access to the user‟s HealthVault information.

5.3 Patient Connect Applications
The Patient Connect model is a special case of the Linking model. It's a model that lets the user allow the application to access their HealthVault record without a consumer-facing web experience. Once the user grants access, the application can read or write data to the user‟s HealthVault records at any time. Clinical systems like Electronic Medical Records commonly use this model to connect to HealthVault, which is why this model is called “Patient Connect”; however, this model is not limited to clinical systems and can be used by any back-end system. It was specifically designed to support a scenario where an application or system does not have a consumer-facing web experience, and thus does not have an easy way to drive the user to the HealthVault application authorization page to allow access to their record. The Patient Connect model enables legacy healthcare systems to connect to HealthVault without forcing them to create a web experience for their patients/customers. It has the additional benefit of authenticating the patient/user via a unique code and secret question and answer.
An important part of this model is the patient/user identity verification setup process that the healthcare provider participates in. At a clinic, the process might follow these steps:
1. During a visit, the patient and the provider establish a secret question/answer, e.g., mother‟s maiden name. The provider enters this information into his clinical system.
2. The system generates a unique GUID for that user.
3. The application sends the GUID, a friendly name for the patient, and the security question and answer to HealthVault to get a unique code for this patient.
4. The provider gives the code to the patient along with the URL (www.healthvault.com/patient) they need to visit to authorize the provider‟s system to access their HealthVault record. This information is usually sent as an email, but can also be printed and given to the user while they are at the clinic, or sent via snail mail. To maintain security, the answer to the secret question is NOT included in this correspondence.
5. At home, the user visits www.healthvault.com/patient and enters the code they received from their provider.
6. The user is prompted for the answer to the secret question, and this validates their identity.
7. The user is then prompted to select the record for the person identified by the friendly name passed in. In many cases this will be their record, but it could also be the record of one of their family members.
8. The user authorizes the provider system‟s access to that record. Only question is this all I need to connect:

'Prepare the application ID

Dim applicationID As New Guid(

System.Configuration.ConfigurationManager.AppSettings("ApplicationId"))

'Create an offline connection

Dim offlineConn As OfflineWebApplicationConnection

offlineConn = New OfflineWebApplicationConnection(applicationID,

WebApplicationConfiguration.HealthServiceUrl,

Guid.Empty)

offlineConn.Authenticate()

'Get the code

Dim code As String

code = PatientConnection.Create(offlineConn,

friendlyName,

securityQuestion,

securityAnswer,

Nothing,

participantID)

'Write code to email the code and URL to the user

'Create an offline connection

Dim offlineConn As OfflineWebApplicationConnection

offlineConn = New OfflineWebApplicationConnection(applicationID,

WebApplicationConfiguration.HealthServiceUrl,

Guid.Empty)

offlineConn.Authenticate()

Answer 4

Hi Mike,

Yes, this is how patient connect works in a nutshell. You may look at additional documentation or the sample applications (1, 2) for further information. As always, let us know if you have any questions.

Thanks
Santhosh