Methods and apparatus to correlate healthcare information

1. A computer implemented method, comprising:

determining, at a configuration receiver, a first set of identifiers used by a first healthcare entity to uniquely identify subjects of healthcare messages and a second set of identifiers used by a second healthcare entity to uniquely identify subjects of healthcare messages by receiving information from the first and second healthcare entities, the first and second set of identifiers being different;

generating, at a correlation generator, a plurality of correlators based on the first and second set of identifiers, the correlators to correlate subjects of incoming messages to the first and second set of identifiers,

wherein each of the correlators is customizable to handle a specific type of healthcare message;

storing the first and second sets of identifiers into an electronic clinical information system;

in response to receiving a healthcare message from the first or second healthcare entity, identifying first one or more subjects of the healthcare message for correlation to an identifier stored in the electronic clinical information system;

selecting, at a correlator selector, one of the correlators for each identified subject to correlate each identified subject; and

correlating the identified subjects of the message using the selected correlator for each identified subject to associate each of the identified subjects with an identifier stored in the electronic clinical information system.

2. A computer implemented method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising generating a first mapping of a first identification schema of the first healthcare entity to a second identification schema of the electronic clinical information system before the receiving of the healthcare message.

3. A computer implemented method as defined in claim 2 , further comprising generating a second mapping of a third identification schema of the second healthcare entity different from the first identification schema to the second identification schema of the electronic clinical information system before the receiving of the healthcare message.

4. A computer implemented method as defined in claim 3 , further comprising identifying a source of the healthcare message and selecting one of the first and second sets of identifiers based on the identified source for the correlation process.

5. A computer implemented method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the first one or more subjects comprise at least one of a patient, an encounter, a laboratory report, an order, a location of treatment, a healthcare provider, or an observation.

6. A computer implemented method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the correlators being customizable enables a user of the electronic clinical information system to implement actions in addition to the correlation process to be performed by the one or more correlators.

7. A tangible computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

determine, at a configuration receiver, a first set of identifiers used by a first healthcare entity to uniquely identify subjects of healthcare messages and a second set of identifiers used by a second healthcare entity to uniquely identify subjects of healthcare messages, the first and second set of identifiers being different;

generate, at a correlation generator, a plurality of correlators based on the identifiers, the correlators to correlate subjects of incoming messages to the first and second set of identifiers, wherein each of the correlators is customizable to handle a specific type of healthcare message;

store the first and second sets of identifiers into an electronic clinical information system;

in response to receiving a healthcare message from the first healthcare entity, identify first one or more subjects of the healthcare message corresponding to the first set of identifiers for correlation to an identifier stored in the electronic clinical information system;

select, at a correlator selector, one of the correlators for each identified subject to correlate each identified subject; and

correlate, using the selected correlator for each identified subject, the identified subjects of the message to associate each of the identified subjects with an identifier stored in the electronic clinical information system.

8. A tangible computer readable medium as defined in claim 7 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause a machine to generate a first mapping of a first identification schema of the first healthcare entity to a second identification schema of the electronic clinical information system before the receiving of the healthcare message.

9. A tangible computer readable medium as defined in claim 8 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause a machine to generate a second mapping of a third identification schema of the second healthcare entity different from the first identification schema to the second identification schema of the electronic clinical information system before the receiving of the healthcare message.

10. A tangible computer readable medium as defined in claim 9 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause a machine to identify a source of the healthcare message and select one of the first and second sets of identifiers based on the identified source for the correlation process.

11. A tangible computer readable medium as defined in claim 7 , wherein the first one or more subjects comprise at least one of a patient, an encounter, a laboratory report, an order, a location of treatment, a healthcare provider, or an observation.

12. A tangible computer readable medium as defined in claim 7 , wherein the correlators being customizable enables a user of the electronic clinical information system to implement actions in addition to the correlation process to be performed by the one or more correlators.

13. An apparatus, comprising:

a configuration receiver to determine a first set of identifiers used by a first healthcare entity to uniquely identify subjects of healthcare messages and a second set of identifiers used by a second healthcare entity to uniquely identify subjects of healthcare messages, the first and second set of identifiers being different

a data feed to receive a healthcare message;

a correlation generator to generate a plurality of correlators based on the first set of identifiers and the second set of identifiers, wherein the correlators are customizable to handle a specific type of healthcare message;

a database to store the first and second identifiers in an electronic clinical information system;

an identifier to:

identify first one or more subjects of the healthcare message corresponding to the first set of identifiers when the received healthcare message is from the first healthcare entity for correlation to a corresponding identifier stored in the electronic clinical information system; and

identify second one or more subjects of the healthcare message corresponding to the second set of identifiers when the received healthcare message is from the second healthcare entity; and

a selector to select one of the correlators for each identified subject to correlate each identified subject, wherein the correlators are to use the selected correlator for each identified subject to correlate the identified subjects of the message to associate each of the identified subjects with an identifier stored in the electronic clinical information system, wherein at least one of the identifier or the selector is implemented via a processor.

14. An apparatus as defined in claim 13 , further comprising a generator to generate a first mapping of a first identification schema of the first entity to a second identification schema of the electronic clinical information system before the receiving of the healthcare message.

15. An apparatus as defined in claim 14 , further comprising a generator to generate a third mapping of a second identification schema of the second healthcare entity different from the first identification schema to the second identification schema of the electronic clinical information system before the receiving of the healthcare message.

16. An apparatus as defined in claim 15 , further comprising a source identifier to identify a source of the healthcare message.

17. An apparatus as defined in claim 13 , wherein the first one or more subjects comprise at least one of a patient, an encounter, a laboratory report, an order, a location of treatment, a healthcare provider, or an observation.

18. An apparatus as defined in claim 13 , wherein the correlators being customizable enables a user of the electronic clinical information system to implement actions in addition to the correlation process to be performed by the one or more correlators.