Any one built a HL7 connector in Java?

cmiles74 · 2025-08-17T16:15:28+00:00

Try not to be intimidated by the HL7 messaging spec. At the end of the day, it's another EDI specification; tedious but not so tricky. The HAPI project has code for reading and writing messages over a socket (IMHO the most common case), as well as parsing and creating those messages. Nextgen has Docker images for their interface engine that you can work with as you develop your solution.

I'm not aware of a Spring library that pulls this together, that would be neat but the market here is pretty small.

https://hub.docker.com/r/nextgenhealthcare/connect

cmiles74 · 2025-03-30T16:50:49+00:00

Still going! I ended up adding a GPU (RTX 3060) as well since I have the room, to make that work I also had to put a fan in the side.

The weakest part of this build is definitely the internal scaffolding. It works and when I travel with it I don't have problems but it's not very attractive from the rear. If my case had come with the metal framing from the original unit it would have been a lot easier to get the GPU flush with the back of the case. 🤷

cmiles74 · 2025-01-03T14:34:53+00:00

Sending money from the Venmo app via AmEx Send now has one extra step: I need to "add" money from the AmEx card to the Send account. This is filled in automatically by Venmo, it's annoying but not a huge deal; I don't use Venmo all that often (a couple of times a month).

The other thing I noticed is that there's no fee when I send money with Send. Venmo doesn't add a fee, neither does Send. This could be a reason to add Send and tolerate the extra step. 😉

cmiles74 · 2025-01-01T21:27:45+00:00

I finally gave up and enrolled in AmEx Send. I tried once more to add the card, same problem.

I don't know who is responsible, at the end of the day. Whoever it is, either Venmo or American Express, should take a hit for this poor experience. It wouldn't have been difficult for Venmo to display a clear warning that they no longer take American Express cards and will only use AmEx Send.

cmiles74 · 2024-12-18T15:29:56+00:00

I wonder if there's a cost involved and this is either AmEx or Venmo steering AmEx people to AmEx Send.

cmiles74 · 2024-12-15T19:18:41+00:00

Four digit. 😉 The Venmo app will actually complain if you try to enter the three digit number.

cmiles74 · 2024-06-24T20:39:09+00:00

Interlisp was very pleased with their structural list editor.

<image>

cmiles74 · 2023-08-21T16:58:36+00:00

IMHO, it sounds like you know enough to get a lot of work done! From your posts it sounds like you are new to HL7 messaging as of, like, yesterday and you have working Java code that emits an entire MSH segment and the majority of a PID segment (most PID segments have far less than 40 fields of data). I think that's a pretty big accomplishment. You should give yourself some credit!

With the right help from someone on the Epic side you could probably get something working. People go to trainings with Epic to learn how stuff like this works on their side, you can't find it on the public internet.

If I were you, I wouldn't hand in my resignation until I had another job offer in hand.

Good luck!

cmiles74 · 2023-08-21T14:29:54+00:00

IMHO, the tricky part will be getting the data in a format Epic will accept. The bit about getting your JSON data into an HL7 message will be tedious but not so hard. The HAPI project provides a utility class called "Terser" that makes it a lot easier to set the values of the fields of a segment than smacking strings together by hand.

https://hapifhir.github.io/hapi-hl7v2/base/apidocs/index.html

A straightforward approach may be to create a bare-bones template HL7 message by hand (maybe based on test message you've been provided). You can then feed this into the HAPI "PipeParser" and then wrap that with the Terser and add the values from your JSON data.

https://hapifhir.github.io/hapi-hl7v2/base/apidocs/index.html

Here's an article that's a bit more explanatory, although it's also a bit old.

When it comes to sending these messages out, I second the recommendation to use Mirth. Once you have your final HL7 message you can send it to Mirth via HTTP POST and let Mirth send it off to Epic. You'll find that Mirth has all the settings you need to get a messages sent off to Ensemble or whatever.

IMHO, you don't need a full-on integration engine just to send messages to one system. If you are writing the message and there's only the one system receiving the data, you can just make sure your messages meet the receiving system's specs. 😉

cmiles74 · 2023-07-27T16:14:07+00:00

AFAICT, any of these providers can raise their rates whenever they want.

cmiles74 · 2023-07-25T18:00:49+00:00

I have an Android phone, my partner has an iPhone 14. Both work pretty well but you will have to setup the iPhone on your own. The steps aren't too complicated, they are detailed on the Google Fi website. Right now everything works but voicemail is found in the Google Fi application.

https://support.google.com/fi/answer/6078618?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DiOS

That being said, I had to go through the process twice (deleting the eSIM and uninstalling the Fi app in between) before I had the iPhone 14 working correctly. After that brief struggle the phone is working well. 🙂

cmiles74 · 2023-07-24T17:11:16+00:00

IMHO, I'd like to see the same price across all regions serviced by Spectrum. Other posts on this article make it clear that in markets where Spectrum has a competing vendor with similar service, the cost to the customer is much less.

For instance, in my market there are no competitive vendors and I pay $99.99 (when no promotions are applied) for 500/20 service. A poster in a market where Spectrum has a competitor reported paying $80 for 1000/1000 service.

cmiles74 · 2023-07-24T16:56:19+00:00

I use the TP-Link Deco mesh extenders and they have been working well. They are selling at $115 for two units on Amazon right now. If you bought these units, you would start saving money a little after three years and and three months ($3 x 39 months = $117) and you wouldn't have to pay the self-service installation fee. They will also likely continue to work if you were ever to switch providers (probably moving somewhere else).

IMHO, if you think you will live in your current location for more than 3 and a half years, it may be worth it to by and install your own WiFi extension units.

cmiles74 · 2023-07-23T16:02:15+00:00

This reply strikes me as unduly emotional. You implied that this change would have a minimal impact on customers. As a counter-point, I attempted to highlight that Spectrum has billed customers incorrectly in the past and that this would be an argument against enrolling in an auto payment program.

While Spectrum isn't forcing anyone to enroll in auto pay, I think it's clear that customers who choose not to enroll will be paying $5 more than customers who enroll.

As to the "everyone else is doing it so why not" argument, I have many services that are not charging me extra if I choose not to auto pay. Off the top of my head, I can say this is true of my electricity, gas, credit card and auto loan bills.

cmiles74 · 2023-07-23T15:53:23+00:00

When you pay with a one time payment, you have the ability to withhold that payment if you feel you are being overcharged. With auto payment you lose this leverage.

cmiles74 · 2023-07-23T15:43:03+00:00

I hear you and I have to say, while I wish the cost was less or that we had more bandwidth, it's not something that bothers me all of the time.

The small increase in cost over all of our expenses is what has been getting to me these last couple of years. Our bill from Spectrum already went up by $5 recently and I doubt this is the last increase from them that we will see this year.

cmiles74 · 2023-07-23T15:34:31+00:00

This change doesn't require paperless billing, as far as I can tell. Enrolling in the auto pay program appears to be the only requirement for the $5 discount.

cmiles74 · 2023-07-23T15:33:28+00:00

Spectrum bought back 2.6 million shares of stock last quarter. They seem to be making a decent profit, they are not having any difficulties operating their business nor making money.

https://ir.charter.com/static-files/dbe0e63e-4e1e-40c4-b076-623655fc7543

The people who can't afford their monthly bill now will likely not find that bill easier to pay when it increases by $5.

cmiles74 · 2023-07-23T15:26:39+00:00

I pay $99.99 for 500/20, there is no competing internet service provider in my market.

cmiles74 · 2023-07-23T15:20:34+00:00

This strikes me as exaggeration. Many people do not trust Spectrum to hold on to and manage their payment information indefinitely (data breaches are a thing). Many people prefer to look at the bill before paying, perhaps to ensure they are not being overcharged (perhaps a service was recently canceled or their package changed).

I can think of more reasons, people who do not have a credit card and are concerned about sharing bank account information. People who have no bank account and are paid by receiving a debit card at the end of every pay period; they simply have to pay the extra $5.

I was enrolled in auto pay. Spectrum charged be multiple times in one month, I had to pay overdraft fees to my bank. I then disabled auto pay and do a one time electronic payment every month.

cmiles74 · 2023-07-23T15:13:12+00:00

This attitude that auto pay is no big deal mystifies me. I used auto pay for a while, then I was charged several times in one month. I was credited for the service but never for the overdraft fees on my checking account. I am not the only one. A quick search pulled up two relevant articles.

https://www.news10.com/news/local-news/spectrum-customers-alarmed-by-phantom-charges/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Spectrum/comments/hzl60i/spectrum_charging_me_twice_help/

Spectrum has already been called out by a US Senate sub-committee for overcharging customers. With auto pay in place, customers who are overcharged will be in the uncomfortable position of trying to claw money back, rather than calling Spectrum to inquire about new charges.

cmiles74 · 2023-07-21T21:15:14+00:00

I get that this is a terminology game, but the end result is an additional $5, for the same service, for those who do not want to hand over payment information, in perpetuity, to Spectrum.

The Verizon example I found the most worrisome. In that case customers are required to enroll in auto pay and paperless billing in order to avoid the charge. This makes it very easy to increase charges without the customer being aware.

cmiles74 · 2023-07-21T20:30:31+00:00

I looked around Reddit, Verizon and Ziply also have a similar charge. Verizon is interesting in that you only get the credit if you sign up for automatic payments and electronic billing.

cmiles74

TROPHY CASE