HIS Architecture Consulting
Most healthcare informatization projects run into the same architectural problems — not because the teams are inexperienced, but because HIS architecture is genuinely hard. We help organizations get the design right before development starts, and fix it when it has already gone wrong.
Where things go wrong
Healthcare IT projects often begin with a list of systems to procure and a delivery timeline. Architecture — how those systems will relate to each other, share data, and evolve over time — is left for later. That decision creates compounding costs.
No architecture before procurement
When systems are selected without a reference architecture, each vendor solves the same problems differently. Integration becomes a bespoke project every time, and the total cost of ownership grows with every new system added.
Vendor and technology lock-in
Architectures that are not standards-based create hard dependencies on specific vendors or technologies. Replacing or upgrading a single component becomes a project that touches every connected system.
Architecture that grows without a plan
Systems added over time without a reference model produce fragmented data, inconsistent interfaces, and integration gaps that are discovered during go-live — not during design.
How we help
We apply a reference architectural model for Hospital Information Systems developed through 20+ years of work across health software projects. The model is standards-based, composable, and designed to survive changes in requirements, technology, and team composition.
Conceptual Architecture Design
We define the high-level structure of your HIS: which functional components are needed, how they relate to each other, and what responsibilities each carries. This gives the whole project a shared reference that every team and vendor can work from — and that you can update when requirements change.
Information Model Design
We design the conceptual data model for your HIS — what clinical and administrative information needs to exist, how it is structured, and how it maps to healthcare standards such as openEHR, FHIR, or HL7. A well-defined information model prevents the data fragmentation and duplication that develop when systems are added without one.
Interface and API Design
We design the service contracts between components of your HIS: what each system exposes, how they communicate, and what guarantees each interface provides. We apply REST API best practices and healthcare interoperability standards to produce interfaces that are clean, documented, and reusable.
Deployment and Database Design
We map your conceptual architecture to specific technologies: database design for each component, deployment topology, and the technology choices that fit your team's capabilities and your organization's infrastructure. We also deliver an Implementation Technology Specification (ITS) when a concrete build plan is needed.
Gap Analysis
We assess the distance between where you are and where you need to be. Implementation gap analysis identifies what needs to be built or changed to reach your target architecture. Integration gap analysis identifies which systems in your current or planned portfolio do not provide standard integration points — and what it will take to bridge them.
Architecture Review
If your HIS architecture already exists but is causing problems — integration failures, unplanned costs, difficulty onboarding new vendors — we review what you have, identify the structural issues, and recommend a path forward that does not require starting over.
Do you have any questions?
Let us know how we can help you.