Welcome to Scalabull's interfacing services! If you are seeking to create an interface and can't find the answers to your questions in this FAQ or in our setup process guide, please reach out to us at support@scalabull.com. 

Foreword: Please note that all interface requests must be approved by your laboratory before Scalabull can implement an interface. Approval is not guaranteed - see below: 'will my interface request be approved?'.

FAQ:

1. Do you already have an existing connection with my lab? We have existing connections with hundreds of labs; it's likely we have already connected with your lab, or with a warehouse provider that is connected with your lab. Due to these warehouses that spider-web across the industry, modern interfacing is consistent regardless of which lab you are interfacing with (or which EHR you use). We don't recommend relying on information about prior lab connections, because it rarely affects 'approval' or 'setup time'. 

2. How do I request a new interface? For new interface requests, see the 'new request guide' below.

3. Can you connect with my lab or radiology provider? Interfaces are standard across the entire US - all laboratories and radiology providers use the same HL7 technology. We have full support for this technology and have successfully created every interface that was approved by a laboratory.

3. Will my interface request be approved? This is decided by your laboratory, typically by your laboratory sales representative or sales division. Over the years, we have aggregated some tips that may help you through this process:

• The reason labs need to approve/deny requests is because HL7 interfaces are time-consuming and costly to create. Labs cannot connect every customer.
• High-volume customers are much more likely to be approved. If your practice orders at least 30 tests per month, it's likely the lab will approve your request. 
• Good personal relationships with your lab tend to help.

4. How long will my interface setup take? For Scalabull interfaces, this varies between labs. Quest and LabCorp are typically the fastest - with setup times between 1 and 2 weeks being common after approval. Most other labs take less than 6 weeks after approval.

5. Results-only versus bi-directional? Lab interfaces can be configured to flow in two directions: you can receive results into your EHR, and you can send orders from your EHR. Many labs opt only to set up results sending because ordering is more complex. We typically push for bi-directional interfacing wherever possible to create the simplest workflow for customers.

6. What is the status of my interface request? See the interface request process 'here' to ensure you've gotten approval from your lab. If your interface request was already approved, please contact support@scalabull.com. 

Welcome to Scalabull's interfacing services! This guide is intended to help medical practices navigate new laboratory or radiology interface requests via Scalabull. You may also want to check out our FAQ.

Types of interfaces supported by Scalabull: 

• We only create HL7 results interfaces (uni-directional) and HL7 orders interfaces (bi-directional) for transmitting lab data and/or radiology transcriptions. For questions about demographic interfaces (e.g. patient and insurance imports), please speak directly to your EHR vendor.
• We can interface with: clinical laboratories, radiology providers, hospitals, HIEs, or your own internal lab LIMS (e.g. Compunet and LabDaq).

Before we can do any interface work, we ask that you please communicate with the support or sales team at your EHR vendor and let them know that you are seeking to set up an interface. 

If you are seeking to connect with Quest Diagnostics: 

Scalabull cannot proceed until Quest approves your interface. You must submit your request directly to Quest Diagnostics here. We also recommend talking with your Quest Diagnostics sales representative, who can confirm whether or not Quest can create an interface with you.

If you are unsure about whether your interface request has been approved, please speak to your Quest Diagnostics sales representative. Until your sales representative gives you confirmation that an interface is being created, Scalabull cannot create a connection.

All interfaces we create with Quest Diagnostics are bi-directional, and we are a drop-in vendor, meaning approved requests are installed automatically. Once Quest approves the interface request, setup is initiated automatically and usually takes less than 1 week to go live.

 If you are seeking to connect with LabCorp:

Scalabull cannot proceed until LabCorp approves your interface. Talk directly with your LabCorp sales representative and they will confirm whether your request is approved.

If you are unsure of whether your interface request with LabCorp has been approved, please speak to your LabCorp sales representative. 

All interfaces we create with LabCorp are bi-directional, and we are a drop-in vendor with LabCorp, meaning setups tend to take 1 week or less. Once your interface is approved by LabCorp, a LabCorp analyst contacts Scalabull and we install the interface.

For interfaces with any other organization: please talk to your sales representative with the lab, radiology provider, or LIMS and provide our contact information: support@scalabull.com. If you do not have a sales rep, technical points of contact or administrative staff can also be helpful.

Once the appropriate party establishes contact with us, we will inform you about whether we can create your interface and we can provide regular status updates for installations in progress.

Scalabull supports both ordering and results HL7 interfaces, connecting EHRs to medical service providers. 

Setup Process:

We require payment up front for all interfaces. We then commence the setup with the results interface, and once production results are flowing into the proper EHR installation(s), we add ordering to the interface. End-to-end setup times have varied from a single day to over 6 months, with an average time of around 2 weeks per direction (results, ordering). If you are involved in an interface project that you feel is moving too slowly, please let us know!

To start an interface installation, please use the checklist here.

Connectivity:

We strongly prefer SFTP connections, and we prefer to host the SFTP server. We can also log into remote SFTP sites for result pick-up / orders drop-off.

We also support site-to-site VPN connections with both AES256 and 3DES encryption, and SHA1 authentication, although we find these more expensive and error prone.

HL7 Formats:

We accept any HL7 results formats and our system will automatically parse results on-the-fly. For HL7 orders, our default specs can be found here. We can adapt this to match the receiving party's needs as necessary.

Compendiums:

We are able to process test compendiums more quickly if you use this format. We prefer global compendiums that can be re-used across any practices that connect thru us to a particular entity, and we support Ask-on-order-entry questions (AOEs).

Insurance Exports:

We can submit a request with partner EHRs for exports of insurance information in the relevant practice(s) EHR installations if these are needed by a laboratory or organization receiving HL7 orders from Scalabull. See our default format here.

Order IDs:

We support several formats of unique order IDs. All order IDs are restricted to a maximum of 12 characters. Example formats include:

• XXX-12345678 , where XXX is a fixed code per client, and 12345678 is a random number
• 12 digit numerical
• 8 digit hexadecimal
• XXX1234567LF , where XXX is a fixed code per client, and LF are the first characters of the patient's last and first name

E-Requisitions:

We have a custom e-requisition format which we can adapt as needed during interface testing. Our latest requisition includes a code 123 barcode (linear), automated physician e-signatures, and a variety of customizable fields.

Specimen Labels:

We support specimen labels and can optionally include barcodes with code128 formatting. Due to limitations of the code128 barcode format, the barcode includes only the Requisition ID (sometimes referred to as the Control #, or Order ID).

We provide the following services:

Full-service HL7 lab/rad interfacing. When it comes to connecting with labs, hospitals, radiology providers, and HIEs, we've seen everything in the industry. We manage end-to-end HL7 interfacing for our EHR partners and effectively remove this from their concerns. We are more well-equipped to work with large, cloud-based EHR providers, but do support some smaller vendors. Please reach out to support@scalabull.com for more information.

Machine Learning Consultation. We have developed and deployed production machine learning and deep learning solutions for several years. The founder, Zach, is a part-time AI consultant. Please reach out to him directly at zach@scalabull.com if you have any questions about using AI for your organization or product!