Well, you can create a HL7 service (I would set it up as a service) yourself using WinSock controls.

However, creating one to be rock solid and flexible is quite some investment and is a matter of investing a few months in it *if you know what you are doing*.
I do not want to discourage you but ,gaining that experience and level of comfort might take years if you start from scratch.

It also depends on the complexity of messages you need. I guess they first will ask for the integration of ADT messages.

Some points.

1. Are the messages coming through TCP/IP or trough flat text files on a file share? The latter hugely simplifies things.
2. Which type of messages do you need to implement? Only ADT (patient demographics) or also others such as ADT-queries, appointments and investigation results?
3. Best to run it as a service on a server.
4. Use alwaysUp as a tool to run the VFP application as a service. It will provide you with many usefull options to monitor the service and hugely will pay off when you need to troubleshoot it.
5. Do you need this for one client, or is it an investment to sell to other clients as well?
6. Most interface implementations are expensive. We usually start at 5000 euro per message type implementation.
7. No two implementations are the same. Though HL7 is standardized and the messages usually are well described, each vendor implements the details in a different way. So, no, there aint such thing as PLUG and PLAY when it comes to HL7.
8. Ask the other party for their implementation documentation of the messages you need to implement.
9. Is the hospital able to send you only the messages (filtering) that are applicable to your application? If not, you'll have to provide some means not to flush your application with all patients of the hospital.

HL7 implementations are not a walk in the park, especially when you are a newbee on this area. It will require quite some investment and a learning curve.

You might want to send me a private email, if you need more help. We might be able to give you a jump start on this.

Walter,






>>We have got an HL7 engine written in VFP9 using the winsock control and seems rock solid. Running for many months, even years without a problem. You need to determine what causes the freezes.
>>
>>Walter,
>
>I searched for HL7 key word and found this message. A customer asked me if my app has HL7 Interface. Obviously it does not; otherwise, I would not be asking the question.
>
>Do you mind sharing what was involved in building HL7 engine and maybe some guidelines?
>
>TIA.