With around 85 percent market share, GP PMS solutions from Auckland-based Medtech Global, are the most widely used in primary care across New Zealand.

In 2020, Medtech Global set about solving a complex, long-standing problem - how to allow third party applications providers to integrate into its software in a way that is both safe and secure.

This was a complex problem to solve as each of the 900 practices used different Medtech versions (Medtech32 or Evolution), each with different configurations and network infrastructure.

 

Overview

• •   Put a secure cloud-hosted API layer over the top of the 1000 primary healthcare providers
• •   Support up to a billion transactions a year,running smoothly for over 4 years since 2020
• •   Implement entirely using FHIR APIs

Challenges

• •   Performance: Covering 90% of New Zealand's primary medical data across 1000 primary healthcare providers
• •   Scalability: keeping up performance as provider numbers are expected to reach several thousands in the future.
• •   FHIR Standard Compliance: Implementing the FHIR standards including International Patient Summary(IPS) within legacy systems

Why choosing Odin NeXT?

• •   Connecting cloud and edge devices across healthcare environments, serving over 1,000 primary healthcare providers with expansion plans for several thousand more.
• •   Enabling legacy systems to work with FHIR, enhancing interoperability and compliance.
• •   Outperforming and offering greater scalability than the vendor's in-house developed products.
• •   Designed for health, Health-Native product
• •   Delivering comprehensive functions and flexibility for real-time healthcare integration with ease of use

 

Application Layer EXchange or “ALEX” was launched in December 2020, providing a solution to this problem - putting a secure cloud-hosted API layer over the top of the 900 GP practices.

ALEX supports sharing of patient information with trusted solutions via industry standard FHIR APIs. Built using several technologies, Microsoft Azure sits at the front-end and provides the API, FHIR and authentication technology.

At the back end is the Odin NeXT Cloud Edition middleware which runs on the Microsoft Kubernetes Service, providing a solution that can scale. Odin NeXT performs the heavy lifting in real time including FHIR transformations, code set mappings, database lookups, API communications, logging and alerting.

The ALEX solution has full support from the standards community. HL7 New Zealand has worked with Medtech to ensure that the appropriate FHIR standards have been adopted and fine-tuned where appropriate.

Medtech’s CEO, Dr. Geoffrey Sayer says “The Odin NeXT middleware was crucial to the success of the ALEX project. We now provide solution vendors with a safe, secure and scalable method of exchanging information contained in the patient record”.

The Odin NeXT-powered solution has been built with scalability in mind, being built from day one to support up to a billion transactions a year.

More than 20 vendors are developing and releasing exciting solutions to improve the patient experience, all made possible using the ALEX technology – including patient portals, appointment booking systems, electronic prescriptions and check-in kiosks.

 

 Odin NeXT