HMIS Systems Integration

Presented by Eric Jahn, Alexandria Consulting

Learning Objectives

● Recognize what systems integration can accomplish and where it can help

● Understand the components of systems integration

● Identify the steps to implement systems integration

What can you accomplish with systems integration?

● Import data from homeless providers unable to perform data entry into HMIS

● Regional or statewide reporting combining many different HMIS systems' data

● Send and receive referral/case management data to systems outside the HMIS, such as the 2-1-1, during disaster recovery, etc..

What can you accomplish with systems integration? (continued)

● Obtain homeless services data from mainstream providers/agencies such as hospitals, law enforcement, and schools

● Create a data warehouse for either interagency reporting or real-time interagency shared case management

● Merge data from one HMIS vendor's product into another vendor's HMIS product

Data Warehouse Schematic

Regional/Statewide Data Sharing

What are the components of system integration?

With: ● a portable data format: XML or CSV

● a template for your data

● a messaging protocol and interagency agreements

● software to handle the receipt and transmission of your portable data

What is HUD XML and why should it be used?

● XML is a portable, structured way to send data between different systems

● It can preserve a database's data structure

● XML Schema are the templates, XML instances are the data files

● XML is customizeable, and therefore can be made incompatible, so ...

What is HUD XML and why should it be used?

● HUD defined an XML Schema to which all compatible XML documents can conform, so that HMIS systems only have to support one XML version

● HUD XML mostly collects July 2004 Final HMIS Data Standard Universal and Program-Specific data elements

● HUD XML can be extended to add data elements a continuum also needs to collect

What is HUD XML and why should it be used?

● So you can import and export data out of HMIS systems in a vendor/platform neutral format

● Using HUD XML, you won't have to change data formats state/region-wide if you change vendors

● Instead, you require new vendors to support HUD XML

Where Does CSV Fit In?

● CSV is often the only format available from legacy systems

● CSV has no self-defining structure, or a built-in way to enforce a structure, unlike XML

● Usually simpler to generate than XML, but...

● Requires more data quality checks upon receipt than well-defined XML

Where Does CSV Fit In?

● A proposed CSV format with documentation has been submitted to HUD for approval

Steps to Implement Systems Integration (continued)

● Establish the initial requirements for the data integration project.

-Will the central system be a data warehouse, or another HMIS, or ... ?

-Will agencies be able to receive data from a central system or just send to it?

-Who will implement and when? A pilot with a limited number of your most capable agencies is a good idea.

Steps to Implement Systems Integration (continued)

● Establish the initial requirements (continued)

-Will the client release of information be closed off when sent to the central system, or be kept intact?

-How will new data be merged into/unduplicated with existing data?

Steps to Implement Systems Integration (continued)

● Establish roles/budget/funding

Steps to Implement Systems Integration (continued)

● Establish a common data format contributing agencies will use.

-HUD HMIS XML (CSV not yet released) – good for uniformity, portability of standard across different vendors and states/regions

-extended HUD XML format: take HUD's format, then add your own elements – a good compromise of standardization and customization, plus you can always convert back to HUD format if necessary

Steps to Implement Systems Integration (continued)

● Establish a common data format (continued)

-proprietary vendor data formats – good for getting all the functionality out of your HMIS capabilities, but the uniqueness of the format may defeat the data integration portability and may need to be reworked if you change vendors

-some other non-HUD standardized format, such as HL-7 XML, AIRS XML, Health and Human Services XML, etc.

Steps to Implement Systems Integration (continued)

*obtain/create documentation and sample data for whichever data format you choose

Steps to Implement Systems Integration (continued)

● Draft and negotiate interagency data sharing agreements. Specify:

-data format, data quality guidelines, transmission frequency, messaging type

-security guidelines, release details

-whether agencies send only changed data or all prior data

Steps to Implement Systems Integration (continued)

● Set up server-side data receiving mechanism for warehouse/HMIS

● an HMIS or 3rd party vendor may be able able to handle this for you.

● This includes:

-unduplication/matching

-“shredding” received data into database

-user/agency authentication or authorization

Steps to Implement Systems Integration (continued)

● server-side data receiving (continued)

-connection security (SSL, SSH, VPN, TLS, etc.)

-messaging protocol implementation (HTTP POST, SOAP, FTP, etc.) so agencies can send data in a predictable fashion with predetermined error codes

Steps to Implement Systems Integration (continued)

● Pilot agencies implement data transmission.

● Expand the number of agencies as funding and system limits permit.

Steps to Implement Systems Integration (continued)

●Items to put in RFP when procuring HMIS software, even if you aren't ready for data integration right now:

-Support for both transmitting and receiving HUD XML v. 2.7

-Support for batched or real-time messaging of this XML (HTTP POST is a good baseline)

More Information and Resources

● HUD XML and Data Integration Technical Specs http://hmis.info (search for “data integration”)

● HMIS Data Integration Email Listservhttp://groups.google.com/group/HMIS_Data_Integration

● See Data Integration Checklist and Links at http://hmis.info (search for “data integration”)