CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--InterSystems Corporation, a global leader in software for connected care, today announced that Kettering Health Network has completed an enterprise-wide transition to the InterSystems Ensemble® rapid integration and development platform.
Kettering is an integrated delivery network (IDN) comprised of more than 60 state-of-the-art facilities where patients throughout the Dayton, Ohio area are served by more than 1,200 physicians. Long recognized as an innovation leader in leveraging information technology to provide, quality care Kettering has been named one of the Top 10 Health Systems in the United States by Thomson Reuters for the last three consecutive years.
The conversion from Kettering’s legacy Java Composite Application Suite (JCAPS) and its eGate integration component, which involved developing more than 150 interfaces, required just four months from start to finish, according to Bill Hudson, Kettering Director of Technology. “I’ve been managing integration teams for 20 years and we’ve never had a project go as quickly and as well as the move to Ensemble,” he said.
Moving to Next-Generation Technology
The migration to Ensemble was preceded by a project designed to upgrade the legacy JCAPS system, according to Hudson. The upgrade implementation involved Kettering’s enterprise Epic hospital information system, which includes the InterSystems CACHÉ high-performance object database. The implementation was “severely impeded by the eGate engine” as well as by reliability, stability, and performance issues with it, and very unsatisfactory vendor support, he explained.
“We recognized that the time was right to look at the new generation of integration technology and fast-tracked a project to examine alternative solutions,” Hudson continued. After a successful proof of concept initiative, Kettering selected Ensemble as its enterprise integration solution. Phase one of the integration project called for moving all of the application interfaces streaming information to and from the Epic system to the Ensemble platform. “We have a strong integration team and Ensemble offers a very intuitive design and easy learning curve,” Hudson said. “In addition, InterSystems provided rapid, world-class support. For example, we typically had a response to any questions within an hour. That made a huge difference.”
InterSystems technology also made a difference when the IDN unexpectedly lost power at its primary data center during the initial Ensemble production rollout process. The database mirroring capabilities of Ensemble allowed for continuous uptime of the Ensemble environment, which very rapidly failed over to an alternate data center, according to Hudson.
Building on the success of the first integration project, plans are to continue developing Ensemble interfaces for the IDN facilities with the final rollout scheduled for completion in October. Once the migration is complete, plans are to design new interfaces between Kettering’s medical staff credentialing software and Epic’s provider files in order to keep the information updated and in sync. “We would never have considered this new integration project when we were using the legacy interface engine,” said Jon Russell, Kettering Vice President and CIO. “Now, we feel comfortable taking on this new challenge—one that will make us much more agile in terms of responsiveness to the providers in our network,” he said.
“Kettering’s adoption of Ensemble as its enterprise integration platform exemplifies the trend among IDNs nationwide to embrace advanced technologies that enable connected care,” said Paul Grabscheid, InterSystems Vice President of Strategic Planning. “We appreciate the opportunity to work with them as they move forward with new and equally innovative technology initiatives.”
About InterSystems
InterSystems Corporation is a worldwide leader in breakthrough solutions for connected care with headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and offices in 23 countries. InterSystems CACHÉ® is the most widely-used database in clinical applications. InterSystems Ensemble® is a seamless platform for integration and the development of connectable applications. InterSystems HealthShare™ is a strategic platform for healthcare informatics, and the creation of an Electronic Health Record on a regional or national scale. InterSystems DeepSee™ is software that makes it possible to embed real-time analytics capabilities in transactional applications.
InterSystems products are used by thousands of hospitals and labs worldwide, including all 17 hospitals on the Honor Roll of America's Best Hospitals as rated by U.S. News and World Report.
For more information, visit InterSystems.com and www.youtube.com/InterSystemsCorp. And, please join the InterSystems community at www.facebook.com/InterSystems or @InterSystems on Twitter.
About Kettering Health Network
Kettering Health Network is a comprehensive, non-profit health center that includes Kettering Medical Center, Grandview Medical Center, Sycamore Medical Center, Southview Medical Center, Greene Memorial Hospital and Kettering Behavioral Medicine Center. Patients receive compassionate care from over 10,000 employees, over 1,200 physicians, and more than 1,000 volunteers. For additional information, please visit www.kmcnetwork.org.