GETTING THE DATA YOU CANT GET: WHEN MEL JUST ISNT ENOUGH

The Marriage of VFE, SQL, Visual Studio John W. Fitzgerald, MD Gregory P. Sanders, MD CHUG 2014 Fall Conference

The Problem

Built in data symbols are powerful but may not provide the data you need MEDS_AFTER() PROB_LIST_CHANGES() ALL_NEW() .etc

Mldefs.txt may be available to address your needs but are undocumented, difficult to locate, and may not survive version changes.

There are tables with no MEL connections Complex relationships are generally not available

Our Approach

Create SQL Centricity data access statements in Visual Studio, Visual Scripts as an .exe

Store in Centricity Client

Pass arguments to the .exe from VFE

Return results from .exe call

Parse the results as required.

Non-trivial Set of Skills Required

VFE

Data Symbols

Centricity table structure and relationships

Model solution in Crystal, Access

SQL statement construction

Visual Studio or equivalent

Lots of debugging

THE CLIENT

Folder on each local machine EXE sits in Client folder for easy access Code is run locally Client calls EXE and passes its authentication to it Client has access to network (ie, SQL server) EXE must be pushed out to all Clients

Dataflow: Call & Query

Centricity

EXE

SQL

Centricity calls EXE EXE queries SQL Database

Dataflow: Compile & Return

Centricity

EXE

SQL

EXE returns data to Centricity SQL returns data to EXE

Inside the EXE

Capture Passed Data

Compile SQL Statement

Connect to Database

Organize Queried Data

Pass Back to Centricity

Capture Passed Data

Output Data

File name and path designated with /o primer

Input Data

Data passed to EXE from Centricity

Desginated with /i primer

Separated by spaces

Compile SQL Statement

Read-only (SELECT statement)

Specify which columns desired

JOIN tables if necessary

Passed data used in WHERE statement

ORDER BY

SELECT Birthdate FROM PatientProfile WHERE PatientID =

SQL for ICD9 Search

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SELECT CODE, DESCRIPTION FROM ICD9codes WHERE DESCRIPTION Like % OR CODE Like % ORDER BY CODE, DESCRIPTION

SQL for RxPillCount

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SELECT MEDICATE.DESCRIPTION, MEDICATE.GPI, PRESCRIB.QUANTITY, PRESCRIB.REFILLS, PRESCRIB.CLINICALDATE FROM PatientProfile INNER JOIN MEDICATE ON PatientProfile.PId = PRESCRIB.MID INNER JOIN PRESCRIB ON MEDICATE.MID = PRESCRIB.MID WHERE PatientProfile.PatientID = AND MEDICATE.stopdate = 12/31/4700 ORDER BY MEDICATE.DESCRIPTION, PRESCRIB.CLINICALDATE

Connect to Database

SQL connection string

Connect using ADO

Need appropriate credentials in database

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Organize Queried Data

Open a recordset of data based upon SQL statement

If you are looking for one record:

grab the data

If you are looking for a recordset:

cycle through the recordset

Format data accordingly

add labels

choose delimiter

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Pass Back to Centricity

Create a text file with the formatted data

Write the text file: use file name provided in /o variable

this includes the path

Saving the file: Centricity waiting for file

Centricity opens file and returns contents

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Advantages

Local Client

fast

return path built in to process

multiple users do not compete for same EXE

Scalable

Put multiple EXEs in Client

Build EXE that accepts FUNCTION argument

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Limitations

Updates

recompile EXE

distribute to all Clients

Hardwired Information

SQL statement

Connection

database location

credentials

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Resources: Basic VFE Coding Reference

Resources: MEL Rosetta Stone

MEL: RunTextProcess

Resources: Data Dictionary

Data Dictionary for Centricity Data schema

Basic database structure

List of tables

Identifiers, time stamp, various ID conventions

Designing reports, linking tables

Complete table definitions: columns, type, description

Linkages to other tables

Database linking diagrams

Resources: Data Dictionary

Resources: Table Definition-1

Resources: Table Definition-2

Resources: Table Definition-3

Resources: Linkage Diagram

ICD9Code Table Structure Using Access to Model Solution

SELECT dbo_ICD9Codes.Code, dbo_ICD9Codes.Description FROM dbo_ICD9Codes WHERE (((dbo_ICD9Codes.Description) Like "*" & [Search String] & "*"));

Access Modeling: Results

VFE Code: RunTextProcess

A Simple Example: Search ICD9 Table by Description

A Simple Example: Search ICD9 Table by ICD9 Code

VFE Code: Adding Problem

Table Relationships: Meds

Table Relationships: Meds, Output

Rx Pill Count: Table Relationships

Pill Count: Data

VFE Filtering: Narcotic Pill Count

GPI left 4 characters: 6510hydromorphone, levorphanol, meperidine, codeine, fentanyl, methadone 6520buprenorphine, nalbuphine, pentazocine 6599oxycodone-acetaminophen, other combinations

VFE Filtering: Narcotic Pill Count

Conclusion

Using .exe calls via RunTextProcess() essentially any data can be retrieved from Centricity

Multiple skill sets required

Filter at server or client, balance flexibility vs speed, consider ease of coding, server vs client side

Minimize bandwidth issues

In the argument string, multiple subroutines can be called