VoiceIt: "Successful migration"

(HealthTech Wire / VoiceIt) - Implementing one of the next generation Hospital Information Systems is no easy task. Just ask anybody in the HIS industry. Andreas Lange was the brains behind just such a modernisation project at Tieto – and he came through with flying colours. In interview with HealthTech Wire, he reveals the secret to a successful HIS migration project and talks about the results.

Published: 11/11/2009 Translations are available in: DE

What has prompted the wave of modernisation projects on the HIS market we have witnessed in recent years and which is still in full swing?

One major reason has been that many compiler vendors have stopped offering support for older client-server solutions. This has forced HIS firms to ramp up their own programming efforts. Ultimately, the only option has been to migrate to a new compiler. The crucial question was then Java or .NET?

Like many other HIS vendors, Tieto opted for .NET. Why?

In our opinion, replacing the old client-server solutions with the .NET framework rather than with Java represented a more user-friendly approach, one reason being that input dialogs appear more quickly. With .NET we were able to implement a distributed application which gave users the impression that everything was happening right there. That would have been more difficult with Java. Although Java is more platform-independent, this is not necessarily a deal breaker in the clinical field, where Windows is by far the predominant operating system.

After several takeovers, Tieto had three different Hospital Information Systems in operation in Germany. How do you go about consolidating different systems on a new platform?

Vendors have different strategies. One idea is to develop a completely new system and to migrate the old systems to the new, single architecture. The second approach is to modernise one of the systems and drop the others. At Tieto we took a third route, which involved merging the three systems. First we developed a .NET framework under which all three of the old systems were able to run. Then we broke the old systems down into modules and, in a third step, converted the modules individually to .NET. Wherever there was an overlap in terms of functionality, we always focused on the best one.

How successful was this strategy?

The whole project began three years ago. In the meantime, we have converted almost 90 percent of the modules. We have now migrated around 140 of our approximately 200 HIS customers to .NET, which means to say we are 70 percent complete. Our aim is to move the remaining modules and customers across during the course of 2010. Over the last two years, we have managed to convert an average of more than one customer per week. I reckon that's pretty good going…

You also collaborate with Indian programmers.  How successful has the partnership with your Indian colleagues been?

There was an initial learning curve, but overall it has worked very well. Our teams include people from India, Germany and even Scandinavia, with developers from different countries working on a product or module. We don't simply send major projects to India and wait and see what happens, we all inhabit a virtual programming environment. Using IP conference systems we can talk to each other face to face at any time. And to maintain personal contact, we also try to invite our Indian developers to Europe at least once a year or to send our European developers to India.

Now that the new platform is well on the way to completion: which direction does Tieto see the development of iMedOne heading, particularly on the German market?

Our motto for Medica 2009 in Düsseldorf is "The best-connected HIS". What we are trying to communicate is that with the emphasis long being on integrating systems such as PACS, digital archiving and workflow control systems with HIS, it is now becoming more and more important to network with information systems, for example with the IT solutions of rehab clinics or physicians in private practices. The key as a HIS vendor is to remain open rather than sticking with just one standard. This enables our customers to remain flexible when choosing their partners.

What do you mean?

It goes without saying that we support communication based on recognised standards such as HL7 as well as the new document standards of the CDA. As a system which operates on a service-oriented architecture, iMedOne is also capable of SOA-based communication. This allows for very deep integration. For example, we implemented a project with an IT vendor which allows physicians in private practices to access the clinical pathways of a hospital from their own IT systems. This enables them to process the first diagnostic steps of the pathway on an outpatient basis and document them for the clinic. Another scenario involves the integration of Medical Care Centres. Here, too, the emphasis is on the closest possible integration without compromising the autonomy of the individual IT systems. SOA-based integrations are ideal in this respect.

When Tieto arrived in Germany, the idea was to make iMedOne attractive to the international market as well. How has that worked out?

We're not getting ahead of ourselves. From 2010 we're aiming to offer iMedOne in our neighbouring countries as well. The solution has been prepared for that both technically and from a design perspective. Collaboration with our Scandinavian colleagues is also being stepped up, particularly with regard to individual modules. In Germany, for example, we have developed a module for clinical pathways which we are now 'exporting' to Scandinavia. The SMS reminder implemented here last year originated in Finland. So we try to look carefully at which modules best complement our portfolio - without losing sight of other markets.  

Mr. Lange, thank you for your time and answers. (HTW)

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Source: HealthTech Wire on behalf of Tieto Corporation Oyj

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