Pathology Data Repository

We have developed and deployed an Oracle 7.3 based laboratory data repository. The data repository maintains data about all laboratory tests and associates these laboratory test results with both patients and specimens. This data repository has been used to replace microfiche in retrieving laboratory data; the data repository is also used by investigators to carry out clinical studies. All data in the Data Repository is provided through HL-7 data streams from legacy laboratory information systems. Some of the key database tables include: 

1. a table that links patient history numbers with patient demographics, 
2. a table to link specimens with patients,
3. a table to associate tests and specimens, 
4. a table to enumerate the test components that are associated with each test,
5. a table that lists the organisms identified in each microbiology specimen, 
6. a table to list the antibiotic susceptibility results for each organism, and 
7. a free text table providing comments to be associated with specimens, components and identified organisms.

One of the clients to use the data repository is designed to provide access to long term data. This client is designed for the Windows NT platform and is connected to an Oracle database through an ODBC connection. The system provides access to data through a TCP/IP socket-based interface. The server accepts requests data from clients using predefined remote stored procedures that return XML like datastreams. We plan to replace stored procedure call interface with a vendor supplied XML interface in the near future.