When an eHealth Infrastructure is being introduced, connecting the primary system (e.g. physician practice management or pharmacy information systems) to the new infrastructure is one of the main tasks. The Software Development Kit (SDK) from ICW facilitates this integration by simplifying the programming of the interfaces of the various services of the eHealth infrastructure or value-added applications such as the LifeSensor personal health record.

• What is the SDK?
• How can SDK help me?
• Technology Platform
• The SDK in Practice?
• The SDK - Advantages at a Glance?
• Which Platforms and Programming Languages are Supported?
• What about Data Protection?

The main task of the SDK is to simplify creating, transmitting and receiving data that is exchanged between the primary system and the eHealth Infrastructure, for example an ePrescription or the contract data of insured patients.

An object-oriented API allows primary system manufacturers to access the eHealth Infrastructure through their customary development environments. At the same time, the SDK provides a greater degree of independence. If interfaces within the eHealth Infrastructure change, in most cases only the SDK has to be updated, the interfaces to the primary system remain unaffected.

The ICW SDK is used for systems that have to communicate with the eHealth Infrastructure and other related systems. Doctor and pharmacy systems, as well as hospital health information systems, are examples of this type of system. However, any system can be connected to the eHealth Infrastructure through the ICW SDK.

By using the ICW SDK when integrating the eHealth Infrastructure into primary systems, a lot of primary system development work is simplified or taken over by the SDK. This reduces the amount of time required for integration, and eliminates a number of sources of error at the very beginning. Detailed documentation is also available. This not only includes the description of individual SDK functions, but also contains examples, descriptions, and explanations of complete processes.

Depending on the primary system's architecture, the ICW SDK can be installed on the client as well as the server where there is client-server architecture. This depends on whether the primary system queries the information from the health care IT infra­structure directly from each client or whether the server takes over communication centrally. If the SDK is to be operated in a server landscape, several SDK instances can be generated and used in parallel. This ensures scalability, and the load on the system can be reacted to flexibly. The ICW SDK can be configured at a central location within the SDK and the existing mechanisms for managing con­figurations can be re-used (e.g. configuration database).

The SDK is continually developed to meet new standards and requirements. This guarantees a consistently high technological standard and the extensive coverage of all new value-added services.

The ICW SDK supports the security mechanisms as described below.

A secure SSL connection is made between the primary system, the ICW Healthcare Router and network-based services (e.g. the ePrescription server) and between the primary system and the LifeSensor personal health record.

The ICW SDK provides functions for making SSL connections and using them to transmit data. Both SSL server authentication and SSL client authentication are sup­ported. Thus, the server and client computer authenticate each other while the initial connection is being made. After this, all data is transmitted in encrypted form, thus guaranteeing data security.

If the communication between the local network at the provider and the LifeSensor personal health record has to take place through a proxy server for reasons of security, the ICW SDK will provide suitable configuration settings. These include the proxy server itself, port information, and user name and password information for authentication to the proxy server if required.