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DATA SERVICES · INTERFACE AND SECURITY

Interface check-up

For imaging centers, mobile operators and labs running Mirth Connect 4.5.2 or another HL7 engine: an assessment of channels, versions, exposure and whether orders, images, reports and claims agree, with a written report and a move plan. No change to your systems without a separate agreement.

Talk about a check-upRun the free checklist first

Why now

On 19 March 2025 NextGen Healthcare announced that Mirth Connect is “transitioning from a dual license (open-source and commercial)” to a single commercial licence for Mirth Connect 4.6. Its words for open-source users: they can “remain on their current version”, “upgrade to the last published open-source version 4.5.2”, or “become licensed Mirth Connect users and upgrade to Mirth Connect 4.6”; “All GitHub source code, discussion boards, and historical community threads will continue to be available.”

So a site on 4.5.2 is on the last open-source release. What that means for fixes and security updates is a question for NextGen or for the community forks, and the check-up puts it to them for your engine rather than guessing.

What we check

  1. 1

    Channels and connections

    Every channel: what it connects, the message types and versions it carries, which ones are live and which are forgotten.

  2. 2

    Versions, support status and security exposure

    The engine version, the Java it runs on, the operating system, how the administrator console is reached and by whom, and what the engine exposes to the network.

  3. 3

    Whether orders, images, reports and claims agree

    The same reconciliation the billing review runs, on a sample of your messages: an exam that was ordered, imaged, read and billed should say the same thing in every system.

WHAT THE RECONCILIATION READS

A synthetic imaging order, with the fields the third check reads marked. Nothing here is from a client.

MSH|^~\&|RIS|HARBORLINE|PACS|HARBORLINE|20250304081600||OMI^O23^OMI_O23|ORD0000001|P|2.8
PID|1||MRN1000001^^^HARBORLINE^MR||ASHFORD^AVERY||19420305|F
PV1|1|O|F01^^^HARBORLINE
ORC|NW|PLC0000001^RIS|FIL0000001^RIS||SC||||20250304081500
PRT|PLC0000001-OP^RIS|AD||OP^Ordering Provider^HL70912|1234567893^BARLOW^BLAKE^^^^^^NPI&2.16.840.1.113883.4.6&ISO^^^^NPI
TQ1|1||||||20250304100000
OBR|1|PLC0000001^RIS|FIL0000001^RIS|73562^Radiologic examination knee 3 views LT^C4|||||||||||||||||||||||||||^Fall from bed with knee pain and swelling
IPC|ACC00000001^RIS|FIL0000001-RP1^RIS|1.2.826.0.1.3680043.8.498.10000000000000000000000000000001^RIS|FIL0000001-SPS1^RIS|DX^Digital Radiography^DCM
  • ORC-1 — new or cancelled
  • ORC-2 — placer order number, joined to the report
  • OBR-4 — the procedure and its side
  • OBR-31 — the statement of the patient's condition
  • PRT-5 — the ordering NPI, matched to the claim
  • IPC-1 — the accession, matched to the image and the claim

The third check is the billing review's reconciliation, tested on synthetic data with planted errors before it runs on yours. See a sample review.

What you get

A written report, and a move plan with options. The plan sets out, for each option, what it would take and what it would not solve:

  • Stay on 4.5.2, with what that needs from you.
  • Move to a community fork of 4.5.2 (Open Integration Engine, BridgeLink), with what each would take and would not solve.
  • License Mirth Connect 4.6 or another commercial engine, with the questions to put to the vendor.

What we do not do

  • Change a channel, upgrade an engine or migrate anything under this engagement.
  • Sell or resell an engine, or take a referral fee from any vendor.
  • Touch a system that holds patient data before a business associate agreement is signed.

The engagement is a signed agreement for an assessment and a written plan; read-only access or an export is enough. Nothing is sold on this site.

Talk about a check-up

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