Application Of Slope Indicator In A Medical Facility

By Matthew White


Medical practitioners have made their work easier in terms of storage of demographic data of their patients. This is referred to as the Slope Indicator which contains messages about the patients registration, their transfer, admission and discharge. These message transfers are the most common since they move a high amount of data.

These messages are found in various types within the admissions, transfers and discharge range and are often fifty one in number. ADT messages are very vital in the communications done through HL7 as they provide a reason as to why the message is being sent. Depending on the kind of event, the urgency and the speeds at which that transmissions is done might be different.

A provider can get data from information system of any hospital or clinic through that means of a message feed. The traffic information within a system has to be constantly moving and this is made possible through a constant update of data. Examples of data updates to be done include an alteration of a patients name, an alteration of the address or an addition of a next of kins name to the data.

Once the update has been done, the data can then flow to the various sections of that hospital where the data is needed. The information is often received through two kinds of interface, either through a point to point or an interface engine. The data can reach various places including connections outside the hospital such as private laboratory when using an interface engine.

One message structure may vary from another based on the resulting trigger event. For instance, a message resulting from a change of address is different from a message resulting from a transfer of a patient done. There are two major components present in any form of messages and these are the identification of a patient and a patients visit.

A patients identification outlines the identity of that person at hand and the information displayed includes name, date of birth and the national identification number. The individuals information of location is given out as the address and the mobile number. On the other hand a patients visit component gives data regarding the time and date of the previous visit and the name of that practitioner who was on duty.

When describing the message categories to be used in the interface several aspects are put into consideration. The first one is the positioning of that data within the table and considering which kind of data is necessary or optional. It is also necessary to consider whether a field may be repeated in other sections or not. Lastly, it is vital to place the value is each segments and this can be done using numbers.

In summary, the ADT messages allow a connection between all the systems present within a medical facility. Thus the medical practitioners are able to easily plan procedures and prescribe the right kind of medications. Furthermore, once appointments have been completed, the data is automatically stored for future reference by patients who wish to book another appointment in the same clinic.




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