Getting Info from Centricity Database?

I'm working on a student project at the moment which requires me to pull patient information (vitals) from Centricity (which is used at the hospital I'm collaberating with).  I want to be able to do with with Java commands or the like.  Is there a way to do this?  Is the Centricity data stored in a database that woud be easy to pull from?

(I appologize if this would be better in the IT section, but the IT section seemed more general.  Also, I did a coupe searches, but please direct me if anyone has asked this before and I didn't find their thread.)

Did you ask the collaborating hospital IT system administrator or DBA?

I doubt that the hospital is going to provide you read access to Centricity db.

We are working with the IT at the hospital, but they haven't done anything similar and weren't sure exactly how to go about it.

We will be able to get read access once we figure out how to connect.

Hi leaf,

I don't know what version you are working with but I did something similar to what you want to do about a year ago. If I remember correctly the database was MS SQL server 2000 and where the data I needed to get was, was pretty easily identifiable from the field names. If IT gives you access to it you can use simple SQL selects to extract the data that you need.

Thank you very much, RoyF.  I'll talk to the IT people at the hospital some more and hopefully find the database.  They had thought it was going to be harder than that.

If you are using Centricity 2005 or earlier, it is in Oracle. If you are using CPS 2006, it is in SQL. Most clinics are using Crystal Reports to pull patient data. You need to check with your IT Dept on several things:

1. That all patient data is deidentified if it is not being used internally.

2. That you have permission to access that data.

3. That you have signed a form with the local policy on HIPAA info.

4. Most likely you will want to search on these observation terms:

5. Ask them if the DBA has already run those reports.

To subscribe to the GE Centricity CHUG, go to http://lists.ascedia.com/mailman/listinfo/developers

Thank you very much, almostfree.  This will be running internally and we already did HIPAA, but I'll definitely talk to them about the other things.  Thanks for setting me in the right direction!

This will truly be a, "Medical Miracle," if you can extract any data from a secure hospital database. Keep us apprised. Find out who sold the hospital the program and work backwards and forwards, by necessity,  from there.  Good luck. If all you need for your student project is a database that will enable you to extract data, with Java commands, ( vitals or demographics for example) the vendor (not IT department) may give you a sample database or even blank database to experiment on.

Well, it's not really an experiment, it's a program that the head one of the departments at the hospital requested, so in order to implement it we have to connect it to the actual hospital system.  The hospital is open to letting us tap into the system (with restrictions, obviously) but we need to figure out how to do it.

 >>The hospital is open to letting us tap into the system <<

No way is the hospital open to alowing you, "To Tap into the system." I am not trying to be discourage you, but this statement is not going to happen. Someone has mislead you.  Think about the logistics. I am just a small practitioner, but I can't let you tap into my database. Corruption is but one issue and HIPAA another.

>>the head one of the departments at the hospital requested<<

Well then let the Alpha Dog that requested the data,  get authorization,  instead of delegating it to you. Again, consult the Vendor that sold the hospital the software to see if they will allow more than a, "Read only," database access. Then you have to deal with hospital IT!

I hope I am in the twilight zone, but I think you are being used in a hopeful excursion.

Like I said before, I have already talked with and been working with IT, with hospital staff, etc, and access isn't the problem, we just weren't sure if you could pull from the database or not.  They hadn't done this exact thing before and wasn't sure how it would work.  I thought I'd see if someone online could give me some advice to guide us before we started trying to make it work.  Now I've gotten an idea of where we have to go so we can try to proceed.  Thank you for your advice, I'm sure it's well intentioned, but it's unnecessary to keep debating if I can get access or not.  IT has said we can, so I'm going to trust them since they know all of the details of the project and of the hospital.

>>but it's unnecessary to keep debating if I can get access or not.  IT has said we can, so I'm going to trust them since they know all of the details of the project and of the hospital.<<

I wish you well; prove me different and tell the forum what happened for better or worse.