Evolution of Mirth Connect: How We Have Changed

Back in 2008, when we were diving deep into healthcare interoperability work and management, we started using a tool called Mirth Connect. It seemed capable of solving many of the interoperability challenges at the time (or at least some of them 😊):

• Heterogeneous information systems
• Disparity of standards
• Multiple communication protocols
• Agility and flexibility in integration development
• Ease of solution maintenance and support

We started our journey with version 1.8.0. Our first impressions were very positive: a short learning curve that, with some IT knowledge and basic programming skills, allowed us to create a point-to-point integration channel in less than a day.

With a little more dedication, we began discovering aspects of interoperability and integration that required more effort than our initial hands-on approach:

• Analysis of the different available protocols
• Transformation and filtering functions
• Advanced tool configuration
• Alert management, among others

Despite some weaknesses and limitations, it proved to be a tool where the pros outweighed the cons.

First Projects with Mirth Connect

The next step was our first Proof of Concept (PoC) in collaboration with a client, where we designed an integration scenario to be solved using Mirth Connect. We developed and deployed our first integration, which retrieved patient and appointment data from an Informix database and generated a Worklist for a PACS by notifying events in a proprietary XML format via a SOAP Web Service. Additionally, we implemented the necessary events to keep patient data updated in the PACS.

The result met our expectations.

From that point on, we continued exploring the tool, designing more complex integration scenarios while also analyzing its performance and scalability capabilities, as well as the new functionalities and features introduced in subsequent versions.

At the same time, we kept training in healthcare integration standards such as HL7, FHIR, IHE, SNOMED, and OMOP.

From the First Integration to Enterprise Environment Management

To this day, after more than 60 versions of Mirth Connect, we have grown significantly. We now work with multiple clients, managing Integration Technical Offices, delivering training, providing specialized consulting, and more. Today, we are official partners of the Mirth Connect provider.

We have evolved from a small instance generating a Worklist and patient updates to developing, maintaining, and supporting high-availability Mirth Connect clusters with load balancing.

But the adventure doesn’t stop here. We remain fully engaged in healthcare interoperability, working with Mirth Connect and many other technologies. 🚀