Developing a functional prototype master patient index (MPI) for interoperability of e-health systems in Sri Lanka

TL;DR

This paper describes the development of a prototype Master Patient Index (MPI) for Sri Lanka to enhance interoperability among health information systems, involving requirement analysis, API design, and implementation.

Contribution

It presents a novel MPI prototype tailored for Sri Lanka, integrating unique identifiers and HL7 standards to improve healthcare data interoperability.

Findings

FGDs identified key MPI requirements including unique ID and record merging.

A hybrid architecture was used for MPI development.

The API using PHN and HL7 standards was successfully implemented.

Abstract

Introduction: A Master Patient Index(MPI) is a centralized index of all patients in a healthcare system. This index is composed of a unique identifier for each patient link to his/her demographic data and clinical encounters. A MPI is essential to ensure data interoperability in the different healthcare institution. The The health ministry of Sri Lanka planning to develop MPI for the country. This project focused on developing the prototype MPI for Sri Lanka with the view to implementing and scaling up at the national level. Methods: This project consisted of 3 phases. Phase 1: requirement analysis using focus group discussions (FGD) with information system users. Phase 2: identification of the suitable Application Programming interface (API) model. Phase 3: development of the prototype MPI. Results: FGD were conducted in 6 hospitals. There were 78 interviewers (Male -36, and female - 42). They highlighted the key requirements for the MPI. Which were the unique identification method and different searching criteria and merging records to avoid duplication. Using this information, the requirements specification for MPI was developed. A combination of monolithic and microservices architecture was selected to develop the MPI. The API using the Personal Health Number (PHN) as the unique patient identifier and HL7 standard was developed and implemented. Conclusions: Development and implementation of a MPI has facilitated the long due need for interoperability among health information systems in Sri Lankan. KEYWORDS MPI, Interoperability, Unique Identifier, PHN, API