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  •   over 10 years ago

Patient data synchronized?

For the purposes of the contest, does patient preferences/ demographics (e.g. gender) in the scheduling solution need to be completely up to date with all VistA deployments' copies of patient data at all times?

We are currently trying to make a technical decision around storing patient preferences on a remote SaaS service/ system and synchronizing data from VistA deployments from time-to-time. This would lead to patient data being occasionally out of date in the scheduling functionality we implement. While it seems there are no specific requirements around data consistency between existing VistA data and the scheduling submission -- it seems that such an architectural choice may or may not be ok.

We would appreciate clarification from the moderator in this area.

Thanks!

  • 2 comments

  •   •   over 10 years ago

    I'm also interested in this question. So far I've configured it as a maximum of 5 minutes for synchronization -- i.e. if you use CPRS to change data related to any scheduling parameters (doctors, appointments, etc.) it will synchronize with the external server within 5 minutes for the change to reflect on data not currently being used by the server. The external server sees any data changes on the VistA server as a higher priority, and will overwrite its data with any changes found. Changes to data on the external server (scheduling an appointment, adding a resource, etc.) will still do validation calls onto the Cache server to make sure that the data is what it expects.

    This basically amounts to the data on the Cache server being the most up-to-date, while the external server isn't 100% accurate if changes aren't made in the application interface and instead made on the Cache server. I'd estimate that a scaled up version would require at least 15 minutes and more likely up to 30 minutes for synchronization in order to keep the overhead down.

    While the amount of data/connections relating to testing this application for the purposes of the contest is trivial, I want to make sure that the solution provided can be properly scaled up to the VA's total infrastructure.

  • Manager   •   over 10 years ago

    Data integrity and architecture are the responsibility of the contestant. The use of a data synchronization methodology is not a contest requirement, yet is completely consistent with the contest's overarching goals.

    VA is seeking the most innovative, effective solution possible. Additional architectural or synchronization constraints upon contestants might undermine that goal and therefore will not be imposed

    Contest Administrator

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