any available APIs for EPIC EMR?

Question

I am trying to send and/or receive information from EPIC EMR. What is the best way to accomplish this? I am not aware of any APIs and I wonder if anyone can guide me to any API documentation or some other solution. Could an HL7 interface engine be a solution?

Answer 1

An HL7 interface will probably be the solution for you in this case. Direct access to data is generally not available or encouraged for most systems and RESTful or SOAP-based web services are essentially non-existent.

Most, if not all, EMR systems share data via HL7 interfaces. There are different interfaces to support different functionality through the hospital system. For example ADT messages contain admission, discharge and transfer information and SIU messages contain scheduling information. These interfaces are only made available on an as needed basis, so there will be no guarantee which interfaces are available from implementation-to-implementation.

Your best option will be to coordinate with the integration team at the hospital and get a listing of supported interfaces for their implementation.

Answer 2

Background: I used to work at Epic, and now I help folks with these type of questions at Catalyze

For the most part, the key to gaining access to Epic documentation is to work with a hospital that is an Epic customer and to have them manage the process for you. Epic leaves it to its customers to broker that relationship; it also charges the hospital any pertinent licensing. So, the key is mostly to have a stand-alone product that gets your foot in the door with a hospital, then to work on an application.

As stated, from that point on most integration is HL7 based. As Mike mentions, you can use an interface engine like Mirth or Iguana. But, that may be overkill for a light transaction load. You could setup your own listener/response mechanism using a library like HAPI or this Ruby gem.