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Our Smartlink Data Connector (SDC) uses FHIR, HL7, APIs, and database connections where they work, and patented UI integration for what they can’t reach. It works with any EHR regardless of operating environment (SaaS, hosted, on-premise), with no EHR vendor involvement and zero effort for clinic staff.
SDC has delivered 700+ integrations across 90+ EHRs, including clinic connections for DCHIE, NC HealthConnex, and Manifest MedEx.
Why small and specialty EHRs are hard to connect
EHR integrations are expensive, time consuming, and always limited by the data exposed by the vendor. Standard connections work well for the big EHRs, but they often can’t reach smaller, legacy, specialty, or hosted systems. Here’s why.
- ●API and HL7 interfaces require EHR vendor cooperation and often take six to nine months.
- ●Database agents have to be installed locally and aren’t viable for hosted or SaaS EHRs.
- ●Specialty EHRs used by behavioral health, long-term care, post-acute, and dental providers are often not meaningful use certified, which makes them much more difficult to integrate with.
- ●Vendor fees vary widely, so it’s hard to predict what connecting a mix of practices will cost.
How Smartlink connects every clinic to your HIE
Smartlink Data Connector (SDC) helps HIEs connect all providers, including behavioral health, dental, post-acute care facilities, long-term care, and home health. Integrating with an HIE with SDC is more affordable, and requires zero effort for clinic staff. SDC can also increase the value of the HIE for payers by getting deeper data that isn’t available via API, such as social history, immunization data, and dates of service for procedures, diagnoses, and medications.
SDC selects the right approach for each integration — maximizing speed, coverage, and cost-efficiency.
- ●FHIR & HL7: Standards-based exchange for structured clinical data where vendor APIs support it fully.
- ●API & Database: Direct connectivity where vendor APIs exist and provide sufficient access depth and breadth.
- ●User Interface: Smartlink’s proprietary engine enables bidirectional data exchange with EHR interfaces when standard APIs are unavailable, restricted, or cost-prohibitive — no vendor involvement required.
Just like a remote user, SDC logs into an EHR and extracts or inserts virtually any type of data. The solution resides entirely in the cloud, and does not require any local software installation.
Data SDC can share with an HIE includes CCDA/CCD documents, discrete data, chart notes, images and documents, lab orders and results, and non-MU data such as dental and behavioral health records.
Consistent Cost
Pre-known cost, regardless of EHR mix
Predictable Time
Integration timelines are short and predictable
Community Wide
Any system regardless of operating environment
How three HIEs connected harder-to-reach clinics
Why HIEs Trust Smartlink
EHRs Supported
Integrations Delivered
Lower Custom Integration Costs
Get the HIE data you need in your EHR and in a format you can use
HIEs are a goldmine of data, but providers have to leave their workflow to look at it. Even EHRs with bidirectional HIE integration flood providers with unusable data, making it time-consuming to sift through. For primary care providers, much of this data is redundant, as it often originates from their own records.
With Smartlink, you can receive just the data you need – such as hospital discharges, care gaps, or new diagnoses and medications – within the EHR clinical workflow.
Cary Medical Management (CMM) is an MSO that shares ownership with Smartlink. CMM uses SDC to pull discharge data from NCNotify, part of NC HealthConnex, into its care management system. One CMM clinic found that 40% of discharges were not readily available in the hospital EHR portal compared to NC*Notify. SDC eliminated the 1,000-record download limit and the need to log in and search for each patient.
Bidirectional integration that delivers real value to providers
With SDC’s bidirectional HIE to EHR integration, the data in each system is compared. Only critical information that is in the HIE but missing in the EHR is provided within the EHR.
Here’s a snapshot of what Smartlink customers have achieved:
- ●Up to 30% of patients have diagnoses in the HIE that are missing in the EHR.
- ●Up to 12% of patients have potential drug-to-drug interactions unknown to the PCP.
- ●Automatic extraction of ADT and discharge summaries for transitions of care saves time and ensures more patients receive the care they need.
