The JiveX data trio: Digital, central, functional
Health institutions are not completely unprotected against the problem of bad data. They have innovative and intelligent methods of guaranteeing that the completeness, validity and security of their data, as can be demonstrated by a journey through the world of JiveX products.
Consolidation and categorization
The first step in improving the quality of digital data is to consolidate the data. This means centralized storage in an IT system of all medical data that could be relevant for treatment – all data from preliminary imaging to diagnostic conclusions developed over time as an in-patient to the discharge documents. This requires information to be procured from where it was originally compiled: paper documents must be scanned, data imported from external sources and information from subsystems automatically recognized and integrated.
However, simply compiling the data is not enough. It is really a trivial task and can be done by any number of non-specific archival solutions. Value is initially added to the data by harmonization into standard formats that can be used anywhere in the world, allowing flexible use and accessibility of the data. Then the data must be classified by metadata to enable categorization.
The importance of categorization is clear when considering your own wardrobe: all your clothing can simply be thrown into one heap. However, the shortcomings of this system become obvious in the morning when trying to select clothes for the day from the chaos in the wardrobe. This storage solution also gives no information on what items of clothing you have in the wardrobe. You may want to buy new items of clothing rather than take the risk that they are not available when you want them. The wardrobe provides added value only after the clothing has been sorted into its different types. And the better the sorting the faster it is to find what you want and the better the overview of what is actually in the wardrobe. The same approach must be used with the medical data to make it useful for the users and to prevent useless duplication of examinations.
This is the task that the Medical Data Management of the JiveX Healthcare Content Management (HCM) takes over – in addition to the above tasks. The HCM compiles the data and uses the metadata to assign the useful attributes by which the data can be stored in categories. Information on the data source and the creation date can also be stored via the metadata. At the same time this gives users useful insight into the validity of the data, another important criterion for the quality of the data.
Once centralized, harmonized and sorted, the medical data can be viewed with the JiveX Viewer at a desktop workstation or on a mobile device.
Simple and secure
One of the problems with combining medical data from different sources is security. Data from external sources, such as a DVD, other data media such as a USB stick brought in from outside or received from a colleague by email, always involves the danger of bringing unwanted company into your systems. One example is ransomware. The problems that can be caused need no explanation today, with many health institutions having suffered from its effects.
However, a health institution cannot simply exclude all data from external sources. An intelligent solution is the Upload Portal, part of JiveX Healthcare Connect, which does not require too much technical expertise.
The Connect Upload works similarly to the solutions for sending (large volumes of) data in the consumer area: patients can upload their health information with a simple, easily operated interface. The institution is informed and can download the data. The data are not sent directly but via an external server, which of course is subject to rigid data protection guidelines.
The server will detect malware in the data. If the data are clean, they are sent to the institution in encrypted form.
Connect Upload is easy to use, only requiring integration of the upload option into the institution's web site. Patients can import their health data and upload whatever is required to the web site of the health institution. Special software is not required.
Who receives what by which method
JiveX Healthcare Connect offers a number of answers for the question of how medical data leave your own house and are received by a person authorized to receive the data. For the requirements for receiving data vary greatly. We first consider patients who do not have access to specialized infrastructure but still have a right to their data, such as x-ray images. Connect LinkShare is the solution for information that cannot be sent via the EPR. JiveX simply generates a link that medical professionals can access themselves or that can be sent to the treating hospitals. Activating the link automatically opens the Viewer with the relevant images. It could not be simpler and more secure.
The health insurance medical services (MDK) on the other hand have completely different requirements and completely different technical options and specifications. VISUS offers the MD Portal, a practical solution for sending information from JiveX. Other areas with an interest in medical data can be scientific institutions and their databases, medical colleagues and even companies developing items such as AI solutions.
JiveX Healthcare Connect can provide intelligent access to data to all such groups. Ultimately, the data are already available (in the HCM), and it only requires options to enable reasonable access. The HCM functions as a repository based on standards that adapt to the technical options of the receiver of the data. The telematics infrastructure is also a receiver of medical information and is supplied by JiveX via the TI gateway.
These options for secure and targeted transmission of medical data provide added value and ensure that good data, not bad data, are circulating in the health system. And it is particularly larger institutions that profit from good data, because they save time, money and aggravation in their daily routine.