Our partner Albatross Financial Solutions uses Advanced ETL Processor Enterprise as part of iPARS – Integrated Patient Acuity Recording System
iPARS is designed to provide on-line real-time recording of Patient Acuity information by nursing staff onwards. The system architecture consists of the following 7 main elements:
1 Data Sources
iPARS is designed with the ability to extract Patient Ward Stay information from a variety of data sources. It can interface with text files, receive messages from HL7 and link to SQL\Oracle databases. The basic requirement of these data sources is the availability of the up to date Patient Ward Stay information.
2 iPARS ETL Tool
The iPARS ETL Tool is based on the Advanced ETL Processor (AETL) software application supplied by DB Software Laboratory (http://www.etl-tools.com/etl-tools/advanced-etl-processor-enterprise/overview.html ). This system is configured to extract information from the ward stay text file. It is scheduled to run automatically every night at 4 o’clock. The information is loaded from the text file directly into the iPARS SQL database. The same application is used to receive and process all the HL7 messages.
Advanced ETL Processor Package example
3 SQL Database
The iPARS SQL database stores all the Patient Ward Stay information into DS_WARDSTAY table. The information is saved with Patient ID, Ward Code and Date as the primary keys. In addition to the Patient Ward Stay table, the SQL database contains the main WARD_STATS and BED_STATS table which holds Acuity data for each patient – ward -date-shift (3 shifts per day) combination. In addition to these main tables, the iPARS SQL database also holds a variety of lookup tables including Ward Lookup, Acuity Levels description, etc. Another very important part of the database is the security table USERS It holds the user name and password. Each user can access information only for a specific number of wards. The link between user name and ward is stored in USERS table as well.
4 System Administrator Unit
The iPARS System Administrator unit is based on the Active Table Editor (ATE) software application supplied by DB Software Laboratory (
5 Web Form
The iPARS Web form is designed using ASP .NET technology and is split into two separate parts. Part 1 is a user login facility that filters ward lists based on the user name. Part 2 enables the user to record Acuity information, ward data (number of admissions, absence, transfers, etc), patient notes, etc. At present, the form is designed and tested for PC technology, but in the future, the plan is to create additional versions for iPAD's and tablet PC's.
6 iPARS Reports
this element of the iPARS solution is still in the design stage. At present all the acuity reports and analysis are delivered using QlikView. This platform provides literally unlimited flexibility in designing analysis and will bring the system in line with the overall front end reporting technology to be deployed across the NHS Trusts.
7 PLICS Interface
Brings Patient Acuity information into the existing cost allocation process
