The following steps show how to create a new project and interface it to any Online Information System supporting the RippleDown HL7, XML, SOAP or other data interfaces.

Suppose that the project is to provide interpretations for lipids results and is interfaced to a Laboratory Information System (LIS) via a HL7 bi-directional interface.

LIS Setup

Using the LIS facilities, specify that the lipids panel should be “RippleDown enabled”. That is, whenever an order is made for lipids, a case is to be sent to RippleDown with the appropriate primary and secondary test items, including historical results. Specify a code to be associated with this panel, e.g. “lp”. This code will be used by the LIS interface in each message it sends to determine which project should process and interpret that message.

RippleDown Setup

  1. Start an Administrator client.
  2. From the File menu choose the Create project item. A dialog will appear prompting you for the name of the new project, which is “Lipids” in our example.
  3. Again from the File menu choose the Add project item. An Add Project dialog will appear.
  4. Select the name of the newly created project.
  5. In the Panel field, enter the panel code defined in the LIS, In our example, this is “lp”. A comma-separated list of panel codes can be entered.
  6. A series of radio buttons allows you to choose a Type for the project. These types are as follows:
    Type Purpose
    Validator A clinical project in which the interpretations of cases are checked in the RippleDown Validator.
    External A clinical project in which the interpretations of cases are checked using facilities in the LIS.
    Auditor A project in which comments are flags of possible data-entry or other business errors, to be
    reviewed using the Auditor.
    Repository Cases sent from the LIS are stored in the project. Email workflow comments are acted upon, but no interpretation is sent back to the LIS for any case. This mode of operation is only supported in HL7 interfaces. In an HL7 system, both RFI and RFU messages are stored in a repository project.
    Forms For building web applications in which navigation is determined by rules.
  7. Press the ‘OK’ button to close the Add Project dialog.
  8. On the main screen of the Administrator, a new row will appear for the lipids project in the projects table.
  9. The project is now online. Cases sent from the LIS will automatically be saved in the project’s Archive case list in the Knowledge Builder.
    These cases can then be used for initial knowledge building. See Case Lists for more information on cases stored in the project.

See also:

Creating a new project

New HL7 Projects