Systems for creating and modifying a file for an entity, and systems for locating records in the file

1. A method performed by a processor of a server computing device, comprising:

receiving, from a first computing device that utilizes a first electronic health record (EHR) system, data about a patient, wherein the data about the patient has been generated by a first record creation system of the first EHR system, wherein the first record creation system generates the data about the patient according to a first schema, the first schema defines a first mapping between the data about the patient and a format of a health record of the first EHR system;

in response to receiving the data about the patient from the first computing device, creating or modifying a file for the patient, wherein creating or modifying the file comprises:

storing, in a computer-readable storage device and as at least a portion of the file:

the data about the patient; and

the first schema;

receiving, from a second computing device that utilizes a second EHR system, a query that corresponds to the data about the patient, wherein the second EHR system utilizes a second record creation system that is configured to generate and produce data of the second EHR system according to a second schema, the second schema defines a second mapping between the data of the second EHR system and a format of health records of the second EHR system; and

in response to receiving the query, transmitting the at least the portion of the file to the second computing device, wherein the second computing device produces the data about the patient by:

locating the data about the patient and the first schema in the at least the portion of the file;

defining a structure of the health record of the first EHR system using the first schema in the at least the portion of the file; and

populating the structure of the health record with the data about the patient in the at least the portion of the file according to the first schema in the at least the portion of the file.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

in response to receiving second data about the patient from the second EHR system, modifying the file for the patient, wherein modifying the file comprises:

storing, in the computer-readable storage device as a second portion of the file:

the second data about the patient; and

the second schema.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

storing the data about the patient and the first schema as a portion of a first record of the file; and

storing the second data about the patient and the second schema as a portion of a second record of the file.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the first record of the file further comprises:

a first marker that identifies the first schema that corresponds to the data about the patient in the first record; and

wherein the second record of the file further comprises:

a second marker that identifies the second schema that corresponds to the second data about the patient in the second record.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein creating or modifying the file further comprises:

appending a map portion to the second record, the map portion comprises:

a pointer to the first schema;

a pointer to the second schema;

data that identifies a location of the first marker in the file; and

data that identifies a location of the second marker in the file.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein modifying the file further comprises:

appending the second record of the file to the first record of the file; and

appending a map portion of the file to the second record of the file, the map portion of the file comprises data that identifies a location of the first record in the file and data that identifies a location of the second record in the file.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

responsive to receiving the data about the patient, serializing the data about the patient prior to storing the data about the patient as at least the portion of the file.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein creating or modifying the file further comprises:

storing a map portion as a part of the file, the map portion comprises a timestamp that is indicative of when the first EHR system created the data about the patient.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

responsive to creating or modifying the file and prior to transmitting the at least the portion of the file, at least one of encrypting or compressing the file.

10. A computing system comprising:

a processor; and

memory that stores instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform acts comprising:

receiving, from a first computing device that utilizes a first record creation system, data about an entity, wherein the data about the entity has been generated by the first record creation system, wherein the first record creation system generates the data about the entity according to a first schema, the first schema defines a first mapping between the data about the entity and a format of a record of the first record creation system;

creating or modifying a file for the entity in response to receiving the data about the entity generated by the first record creation system of the entity, wherein creating or modifying the file comprises:

generating a file record, the file record comprises:

the data about the entity; and

the first schema; and

storing the file record as a portion of the file in a computer-readable data repository;

receiving, from a second computing device that utilizes a second record creation system, a query that is indicative of the data about the entity, the second computing device is in network communication with the computing system, wherein the second record creation system is configured to generate and produce data of the second record creation system according to a second schema, the second schema defines a second mapping between the data of the second record creation system and a format of records of the second record creation system; and

in response to receiving the query, transmitting at least the file record to the second computing device, wherein the second computing device produces the file record about the entity by:

locating the data about the entity and the first schema in the at least the file record;

defining a structure of the record of the first record creation system using the first schema in the at least the file record; and

populating the structure of the record with the data about the entity in the at least the file record according to the first schema in the at least the file record.

11. The computing system of claim 10 , wherein the entity is a patient and the first record creation system is a first electronic health record (EHR) system.

12. The computing system of claim 10 , the acts further comprising:

modifying the file in response to receiving second data about the entity generated by the first record creation system, wherein modifying the file comprises:

generating a second file record, the second file record comprises the second data about the entity, wherein the second file record fails to include the first schema; and

appending the second file record to the file, wherein the first computing device produces a second record about the entity based upon the second data about the entity and the first schema in the file record.

13. The computing system of claim 12 , wherein modifying the file in response to receiving the second data further comprises:

generating a map portion, the map portion comprises data that identifies a location of the first schema in the file record; and

appending the map portion to the second file record.

14. The computing system of claim 13 , the map portion further comprises:

an identifier of the file record;

a location of the file record in the file;

an identifier of the second file record; and

a location of the second file record in the file.

15. The computing system of claim 14 , the map portion further comprises:

a first timestamp for the file record; and

a second timestamp for the second file record.

16. The computing system of claim 10 , the acts further comprising:

modifying the file in response to receiving second data about the entity generated by the second record creation system, wherein modifying the file comprises:

generating a second file record, the second file record comprises:

the second data about the entity; and

the second schema; and

appending the second file record to the file record in the file; and

transmitting at least the second file record to the first computing device in response to receiving a second query from the first computing device, wherein the first computing device produces the second record about the entity based upon the second data about the entity and the second schema.

17. The computing system of claim 16 , the acts further comprising:

modifying the file in response to receiving third data about the entity generated by the first record creation system, wherein modifying the file comprises:

generating a third file record, the third file record comprises the third data about the entity, the third file record fails to comprise the first schema; and

appending the third file record to the second file record in the file; and

transmitting at least the third file record to the computing device in response to receiving the query from the computing device, wherein the computing device produces a third record about the entity based upon the third data about the entity and the first schema in the file record.

18. The computing system of claim 17 , wherein modifying the file in response to receiving the third data further comprises appending a map portion to the third file record in the file, the map portion comprises data that identifies locations of the file record, the second file record, and the third file record in the file.

19. The computing system of claim 10 , the file record further comprises a marker, the marker identifies the first schema that is usable by the second computing device to produce the file record.

20. A computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform acts comprising:

creating a file in computer-readable storage for a patient, the file comprises:

a first record, the first record comprises:

first data about the patient, the first data about the patient based upon a first electronic health record for the patient generated by a first record creation system of a first electronic health record (EHR) system; and

a first schema that defines a first mapping between the first data about the patient and a format of the first electronic health record of the first EHR system, wherein the first record creation system has generated the first record according to the first schema;

a second record, the second record comprises:

second data about the patient, the second data about the patient based upon a second electronic health record for the patient generated by a second record creation system of a second electronic health record (EHR) system; and

a second schema that defines a second mapping between the second data about the patient and a format of the second electronic health record of the second EHR system, wherein the second record creation system has generated the second record according to the second schema; and

a map portion that identifies a location of the first record in the file and a location of the second record in the file;

receiving, from a computing device and over a network connection, a query that corresponds to the first data and the second data, wherein the computing device fails to have at least one of the first record creation system of the first EHR system or the second record creation system of the second EHR system installed thereon; and

in response to receiving the query, transmitting, to the computing device and over the network connection, the file, wherein the computing device produces the first data about the patient by:

locating the first data about the patient and the first schema in the file based upon the map portion;

defining a structure of the first record using the first schema in the file; and

populating the structure of the first record with the first data about the patient in the file according to the first schema in the file,

and further wherein the computing device produces the second data about the patient by:

locating the second data about the patient and the second schema in the file based upon the map portion;

defining a structure of the second record using the second schema in the file; and

populating the structure of the second record with the second data about the patient in the file according to the second schema in the file.