Interfacing legacy medical devices with health IT systems is time consuming and tedious. Integrators typically need to build software layers and hardware devices that translate data communicated on a medical device's legacy interface (e.g. RS-232) into a format a modern health IT system can understand and consume. The Open Health Connector (OHC) is a software framework designed to make integrating new devices into your health IT ecosystem easier and cheaper. The framework can run on low power single board computers (such as a rasberry-PI or beagle board) and simplifies device integration by separating the development of device drivers from the development of specific health IT connectors. Due to the OHC architecture, any device that is compatible with the OHC immediately works with any health IT system (e.g. EHR, remote monitoring) that is supported by the OHC. Conversely, any health IT system with an OHC connector can leverage any device for which an OHC device driver exists.

The base distribution of the OHC includes

• The OHC Java framework
• A device driver for the blood pressure monitor using usb plugin
• A device driver for the Nellcor N-595 pulse oximeter using bluetooth plugin
• A network connector that uses JMS
• A network connector that is compatible with the 11073-PHD standard, which allows the OHC to act like an 11073 agent
• A device driver that works with the antidote 11073-PHD manager implementation which enables the OHC to interoperate with any 11073-PHD compliant medical device.

This project is supported in part by NIH 1U01EB012470-01 and NSF CNS-1035715.