Implementing and supporting PHIN-MS, a developers perspective

Public health information technology professionals are often asked to build the Taj Mahal on a budget more appropriate for a skid row flop house. These constraints often put public health information technologist in direct opposition to their public health partners. PHIN-MS is one of those opportunities where both you and your public health partners can find common ground in fulfilling the needs of the public we serve.

PHIN-MS presents an opportunity for the nation to have a common messaging protocol and mechanism for relaying public health information to the places, programs and professionals where it can have the most impact. However, how do we incorporate this tool into existing environments that currently support legacy, as well as, modern systems? How do we ensure that they will scale to meet the enterprises needs? How do we make certain that we can respect the budget of all partners, both large and small?

Through thoughtful analysis of the architecture in place at the State of Oregon, well developed test plans, constant communication and negotiation with our collaborative partners, and, finally, critical support from our management and state data center, Oregon’s PHIN-MS initiative went from project approval to completion in just 4 ½ months. This solution will help us leverage other strategic initiatives, such as service oriented architecture and a common LDAP directory, which are currently working their way through the department’s approval process.

The result of this up-front analysis has been that the Department of Human Services for the State of Oregon can now bring a new PHIN-MS message stream online in one to six hours, from start to finish. This rapid turn-around has been the key to selling the PHIN-MS system to otherwise skeptical business partners unsure of the value that PHIN-MS can provide to them.