Summary of a virtual MDM implementation
To summarize the benefit of implementing IBM® InfoSphere® Master Data Management with a virtual MDM configuration, use Regional Medical Center and patient John Public as our example.
There are a number of operations and processes that occur within the MDM operational server that create an enterprise view of a member object. To help tell the story of how an MDM operational server with a virtual MDM configuration works, use the example of John Public throughout the overview topics. John Public is a fictional character whose daily experiences with organizations that use InfoSphere MDM can help illustrate how his life is enhanced from a healthcare, financial, and consumer perspective. John lives in Arizona and works for a division of ReallyBigCorp. John owns a home, has a home-based business with his wife, contributes to charity, and plays sports for recreation.
The Regional Medical Center community consists of two "facilities": 1) a medical complex that houses doctors and outpatient services and 2) a hospital. Each facility has multiple source systems where patient records are maintained.
John Public has a primary care physician who is housed within the Regional Medical Center community. Over time, the doctor referred John to a specialist within the medical complex, who in turn sent John to a physical therapist. John's condition did not improve and surgery was required. John's interaction with the two facilities and service providers resulted in the creation of multiple source records.
For each record in each source, there might potentially be multiple changes to attribute values or data entry errors. It is easy to imagine the potential issues that might arise for John Public that are based on the number of records that are scattered across these systems. Are J., Jon, and John the same person? If so, what phone number is valid? What insurance company should be billed? Should John really be taking both of these medications? Now factor in thousands of member records with similar issues and you can see the potential for serious consequences.
Implementing InfoSphere MDM enabled Regional Medical Center to link John's records by using a common Entity ID, thus answering any identity questions and enhancing communication between departments and facilities.
By adding the capabilities of other InfoSphere MDM applications, Regional Medical Center achieved greater control over their data integrity and delivered better care to their customers.
- Property settings to control what data is seen in other InfoSphere MDM applications and who can see and edit that data
- Algorithm function settings to control the standardization, bucketing, and comparison of member attributes
- Definitions for member, task, and entity types and status definitions
- Definition of the attributes and attribute types and their sources from which the attributes originate
- Definition of the relationships between members and entities
As source systems feed information into the operational server, processes filter records that should be linked because they represent a single member. Also identified are those records that have potential data issues that might or might not represent a single member. Regional Medical Center data stewards use the Inspector data stewardship application to search for tasks, linkages, members, and relationships to evaluate attributes and history. When data issues are discovered, data stewards can edit the member information in the MDM database to resolve and manage member relationships and tasks.
Understanding that complete and accurate member pictures are vital to any organization or line of business, Regional Medical Center opted to use the Enterprise Viewer web application as their primary search tool. When users request a search or retrieve in the application, the criteria is passed to the MDM operational server. The algorithm compares the criteria, finds the member records that best match, and returns those records to the browser. Composite views can show users an enterprise view of a member or, if necessary, a source-by-source view.
The Web Reports help data stewards and management at Regional Medical Center track the activity that is occurring within the MDM operational server. Using this information helps them to better manage workloads and monitor data quality.
The development staff at Regional Medical Center used the Java, Web Services, and Enterprise Service Oriented Architecture (ESOA) Toolkit SDKs to customize their in-house solutions to use the comparison, scoring, and linking capabilities of the MDM operational server.
The Message Broker components support maintenance of data accuracy and synchronization across all their source systems. When updates are made to members in the MDM database, the outbound broker triggers on certain actions and sends update messages to the appropriate source system. The inbound broker enables source systems to send updates to the MDM database.
Regardless of your line of business, knowing your customers and their needs drives your efforts and affects your bottom line. Through the comparison, scoring, and linking process, a complete, real-time picture of a single member throughout your enterprise can be accomplished.