Integrating With: Rhapsody Integration Engine

For digital health innovators looking to integrate their solutions with an NHS Trust, understanding and leveraging the Rhapsody Integration Engine is key to ensuring a smooth and secure data exchange process. Rhapsody is widely used within NHS Trusts in England to manage complex healthcare integrations, making it an essential platform for third-party vendors who want to integrate their solutions into NHS Trusts.

This article provides an overview of Rhapsody Integration Engine, its capabilities, and how digital health companies can successfully integrate their solutions with an NHS Trust via Rhapsody.

What is Rhapsody Integration Engine?

Rhapsody Integration Engine is a high-performance healthcare interoperability platform designed to seamlessly connect disparate healthcare systems. It is widely used across hospitals, Health Information Exchanges (HIEs), government organisations, and public and private healthcare institutions worldwide. NHS Trusts use Rhapsody to facilitate secure, efficient, and standards-compliant data exchange between various internal and external healthcare systems.

As a healthcare-first integration engine, Rhapsody supports a vast array of healthcare messaging standards, including HL7 (V2 and V3), FHIR, CCDA, NCPDP, X12, IHE, DICOM, XML, JSON, and other custom formats. This makes it an ideal middleware solution for integrating electronic patient records (EPRs), diagnostic systems, remote monitoring tools, and patient engagement platforms with NHS Trust infrastructures.

One of Rhapsody’s core strengths is its scalability and reliability. It processes vast volumes of data efficiently—handling up to 30,000 messages per minute at peak times—and maintains secure, high-availability configurations suitable for mission-critical healthcare applications.

Key Capabilities of Rhapsody for NHS Trust Integrations

Integrating with Rhapsody offers multiple advantages for digital health innovators looking to align their solutions with NHS Trust requirements. Here are some of the core capabilities that make it a robust integration solution:

1. Comprehensive Healthcare Messaging Support

Rhapsody ensures full compatibility with industry-standard healthcare protocols, including:

• HL7 v2 and v3 – The most widely used messaging standard in healthcare for clinical data exchange.
• FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) – The latest standard for real-time, API-based healthcare interoperability.
• DICOM – Essential for imaging solutions integrating with NHS Trust radiology and PACS systems.
• X12 & NCPDP – Key for financial and pharmacy data exchange.
  Custom Formats – Rhapsody can map proprietary and legacy formats, ensuring broad integration flexibility.

For digital health vendors, this means the ability to exchange structured clinical, administrative, and financial data between their solution and NHS Trust systems.

2. Intelligent Mapping and Data Transformation

One of the biggest hurdles in healthcare integration is data transformation. NHS Trusts often use multiple systems with varying data formats and structures. Rhapsody’s Intelligent Mapper automates data conversion and migration by analysing legacy system data and reverse-engineering transformation rules.

This reduces the time and cost of integration, ensuring that your solution can quickly and efficiently communicate with NHS Trust systems while maintaining data integrity and consistency.

3. Scalable and High-Performance Processing

Rhapsody is built for high-volume and high-speed data processing, with some of the largest installations handling over a billion messages per day globally. If your digital health solution requires real-time data exchange, such as remote patient monitoring, clinical decision support, or AI-driven diagnostics, Rhapsody provides a solid foundation.

Additionally, Rhapsody can be deployed on-premises, in the cloud, or as a hybrid model, allowing flexibility in meeting NHS Trusts’ infrastructure requirements.

4. Secure and Compliant Data Exchange

Security is paramount in healthcare, particularly when handling Protected Health Information (PHI). Rhapsody is designed with built-in security and compliance measures, including:

• NHS DTAC and GDPR compliance for secure handling of patient data.
• ISO 27001 and SOC2 certifications to ensure high standards of data security.
• Message encryption, audit logging, and access controls to safeguard sensitive information.

For NHS Trust integrations, this means you can confidently exchange patient data, diagnostic results, and treatment information while meeting stringent security and privacy regulations.

5. Flexible Integration with APIs and Cloud Services

With the rise of cloud-based health applications, digital health innovators need solutions that support modern API-driven integrations. Rhapsody enables:

• FHIR API-based interoperability, making it easy to connect with NHS Trusts adopting FHIR-first integration strategies.
• REST and SOAP APIs for integration with NHS Trust systems and third-party applications.
• AWS cloud hosting via Rhapsody-as-a-Service (RaaS), reducing infrastructure burden and ensuring seamless scalability.

If your digital health solution is API-driven or cloud-based, Rhapsody provides a future-proof integration approach.

How to Integrate Your Digital Health Solution with an NHS Trust Using Rhapsody

Successfully integrating your digital health product with an NHS Trust via Rhapsody requires a well-structured approach. Below is a step-by-step guide:

Step 1: Understand NHS Trust Requirements

Before initiating integration, engage with the NHS Trust’s integtation teams to determine:

• Which systems Rhapsody connects to internally? (e.g., EPR, pathology, imaging, pharmacy)
• Preferred message formats and standards? (HL7, FHIR, etc.)
• Security and compliance requirements? (e.g., data encryption, access control)
• Any specific API or protocol requirements? (REST, SOAP, SFTP, etc.)

Understanding these factors ensures that your integration approach aligns with NHS Trust expectations.

Step 2: Determine Your Integration Approach

Depending on the nature of your solution, you may choose:

• Direct HL7/FHIR Messaging – If your system is EHR-compatible, you may integrate via direct message exchange.
• API-Based Integration – If your solution is cloud-based, you can leverage FHIR APIs or RESTful endpoints.
• Custom Data Mapping – If your system uses proprietary formats, you’ll need custom mappings and transformations.

Step 3: Leverage Rhapsody’s Integration Tools

Rhapsody offers several tools that simplify integration:

• Rhapsody IDE – A graphical interface for designing, testing, and managing integrations.
• Rhapsody Development Kit (RDK) – Extends the engine’s functionality, allowing developers to create custom interfaces.
• Intelligent Mapping & Data Transformation – Speeds up legacy system migration and ensures data consistency.

Step 4: Develop, Test, and Validate the Integration

• Work with the NHS Trust’s integration team to set up a testing environment.
• Use Rhapsody’s built-in testing tools to validate data exchange and transformations.
• Conduct pilot integrations with real-world scenarios before full deployment.

Step 5: Monitor and Maintain Integration Health

Once integration is live, continuous monitoring is critical:

• Rhapsody Management Console provides real-time system health and alerts.
• Proactive notifications prevent potential integration failures.
• APIs for remote monitoring help third-party applications track engine performance.

Ongoing updates ensure compatibility with new NHS interoperability standards and security requirements.

Conclusion: Why Choose Rhapsody for NHS Trust Integration?

For digital health innovators, integrating with an NHS Trust via Rhapsody Integration Engine offers a scalable, secure, and future-proof pathway to interoperability. Whether you are connecting AI-driven clinical solutions, remote patient monitoring platforms, telemedicine tools, or diagnostics systems, Rhapsody provides a robust and standards-compliant integration framework.

By leveraging Rhapsody’s intelligent mapping, FHIR capabilities, real-time processing, and security features, digital health vendors can achieve seamless NHS Trust integration with reduced cost, risk, and implementation time.

If you’re developing a health technology solution and looking to integrate with an NHS Trust, understanding and utilising Rhapsody is a crucial step towards achieving interoperability success.