The Multi-HL7 Outbound device allows you to send HL7 messages to multiple destinations. The device is accessed in the Testing group of channel devices.

Destination

The Destination tab specifies the settings for the target destination to which the file should be sent.

The tab contains the following options:

• Server Address: the address of the destination server.
• Server Ports: A list of the ports that should be used to access the destination.
• Ignore send errors: Check this option if the device should ignore any send errors from other devices in the channel.
• Connection Timeout (sec): The number of seconds the connection should be idle before it times out.
• Advanced TCP Options: use these options to set advanced behavior for the TCP connection. Choices include:
  • KeepAlive: Choose this to use KeepAlive messages. These messages are sent to verify that the link between the HL7 Inbound Device and the source HL7 message system is still operating.
  • NoDelay: Choose this option to disable the Nagle algorithm. This means that messages will be sent immediately, instead of being held until a transmission is of a certain size. This potentially improves system performance.
  • DontLinger: Select this option to close the socket gracefully without lingering.
• Expect Acknowledgement (HL7 ACK): Whether or not Connexion should expect an ACK/NACK notification from the destination server.
• Encoding: choose the type of encoding the incoming HL7 messages will use. The default is Western European (ISO).
• Start of Message Character: This is the character/string that indicates the start of an HL7 message.
• End of Message Character: This is the character/string that indicates the end of an HL7 message

Ack/Nack Error Condition

You can move the message to the error queue if the Ack/Nack Condition is met when the HL7 message is processed by the HL7 Outbound device.

Select the check box to enable the move to the error queue. In the Ack/Nack Condition field, set the condition(s) that must be met for the message to be moved to the error queue. By default, Connexion will match the value of the MSA-1 segment to either AE or AR, which are two common error codes set in the HL7 Inbound device (HL7 Inbound Device>Connection). If you have used other values, you can specify those instead.

If you click in the field, you can also choose any of the other functions available in Connexion. For a full description of all available functions, see the HL7 Transform device page.

If you wish to add an entry to the Connexion Error Log, in addition to moving the HL7 message to the error queue, select the check box.

Continuation Messages

Older systems, especially those on mainframe computers, may have limits on the size of files they can process. If the destination of the HL7 Outbound device is such a system, you can determine how to split HL7 messages and create continuation files on the device.

Select the Enable splitting option. This will enable the other options on the screen.

• You can split messages based on number of lines or file size. Select the splitting option you wish to use. If you choose to split by number of lines, enter the number of lines after which the HL7 message should be split. If you choose to split based on file size, enter the maximum size in KB.
• You can also include some segments in every continuation message:
  • Select Include PID to include the entire patient identifier segment in every continuation message. This segment includes fields to specify patient-specific information such as age, ID, name, sex, and address.
  • Select Include EVN to include the entire event segment in every continuation message. This segment contains information to identify the specific event to which the HL7 message refers, including admission, discharge, death (if applicable), and reason (doctor's orders, patient request, etc.). Note that other segments may contain fields that are preferred to fields in the EVN segment. Consult your organization's HL7 message standards for guidance.

SSL Encryption

As with the HL7 Inbound device, you can run the HL7 Outbound device using SSL encryption.

Check the Enable Ssl Authentication & Encryption box to enable encryption.

You must use the same SSL security certificate for the Outbound device that you used for the Inbound device. Copy it from the SSL Encryption screen on the HL7 Inbound device configuration and paste it into the field on the HL7 Outbound device configuration (remember to remove the instructional text before saving).