Integrating data from alternate sources into a clinical database

The author presents an object-oriented approach to multimedia and multisystem data integration into a clinical database. The main database is considered as an object, a so-called data population. Once data is written to the data bank, it is inside this population. Information may exist, therefore, inside, or outside the data population. The outside object, then is the entire set of processes necessary to integrate that outside data into the data population. To fully exploit the concept of an outside object, a totally new design for the data entry system was needed. The input was defined at run-time by the outside object that is called into play. If this plug-in method is carried throughout the system, it becomes simple to obtain data from the RS-232 serial port as it is to key it in. The requirements of an outside object and the research approach are discussed. An example of outside object system integration is the introduction and assimilation of data from the Rhapsody EKG Analysis system into a cardiological data bank. The mission of this outside object, then, is to take a Rhapsody file, and input it to the larger host database. This example is outlined