Pub/Sub (short for Publish/Subscribe) is an event-driven messaging model that allows systems to send notifications to subscribers when certain events occur. In the context of Verato hMDM (health Master Data Management), this system notifies customers whenever important updates are made to their person or organization records.
The real value of Pub/Sub lies in its ability to support scenarios where real-time updates are crucial. For instance, changes in Verato can trigger timely updates in downstream systems without delay, ensuring the most current information is available across platforms.
How Does Pub/Sub Work?
In a Pub/Sub system, customers must "subscribe" to specific events they are interested in. Once subscribed, whenever a relevant event is triggered, a notification is sent out.
The “publish” part of the system involves Verato sending out these notifications (events) to those who have subscribed, while the “subscribe” aspect ensures clients are only alerted to events they care about. This allows for precise control over which updates are received and processed.
Verato's Pub/Sub infrastructure, powered by Confluent, enables change notifications related to both Patient and Provider records. These notifications are placed on Kafka topics and securely routed to destinations chosen by clients, such as a customer-facing Kafka topic or an HTTP endpoint, ensuring reliable delivery.
Key Features of Verato’s Pub/Sub Service
- Confluent-based infrastructure operational on AWS and GCP.
- Supports Patient and Provider records, enabling event notifications for critical data updates.
- Customized event delivery for the specific notifications a customer subscribes to.
- Secure message delivery to customer-designated endpoints or Kafka topics.
- Multiple delivery channels per customer are supported, increasing flexibility.
- Robust API security for both internal and external communications.
- Advanced filtering of notifications based on attributes like state, zip code, provider taxonomy, and age.
- Integration with Slack for alerts and audit logging capabilities.
Benefits and Impact of Pub/Sub
Verato's Pub/Sub offers an alternative way to process event changes asynchronously, without the need for real-time, direct API calls like searchNotifications. This method provides flexibility, scalability, and a cost-effective solution for handling event-driven messaging. Clients can integrate seamlessly with Verato’s platform without the overhead of developing complex, synchronous API interactions.
Pub/Sub broadens Verato’s Connect capabilities, making it easier for clients to integrate their platforms with Verato and onboard faster. This solution also supports lower operational costs, resulting in a higher return on investment (ROI) for customers.
Pub/Sub advantages over Direct APIs
To better understand how Pub/Sub compares with traditional API usage, here’s a breakdown of the differences:
| Feature | Pub/Sub | Direct API |
| Coupling | Loosely coupled – services scale and deploy independently | Tightly coupled – changes in one service can affect others |
| Scalability | Easily scalable – services can be added/removed without impact | More challenging to scale due to dependencies between services |
| Flexibility | Highly flexible – multiple subscribers can receive the same message | Less flexible – each client must call the necessary API directly |
| Asynchronicity | Inherently asynchronous – perfect for long-running tasks or background processes | Synchronous and blocking by design |
| Custom Delivery | Supports multi-format and multi-destination message delivery per client | Custom delivery would require more work from clients |
| Partner Adoption | Interest expressed by several partners for Pub/Sub services | Requires partners to implement proprietary API formats |
Verato’s Pub/Sub infrastructure provides a scalable, flexible, and cost-effective solution for event-driven messaging. By offering an alternative to traditional API calls, Pub/Sub empowers clients to receive crucial updates asynchronously, making it easier to integrate with downstream systems and improving overall data flow efficiency. With robust security, multiple delivery options, and support for multiple platforms, Pub/Sub allows customers to tailor the flow of information to fit their specific needs while future-proofing their systems for growth and change.
In the rapidly evolving landscape of healthcare data, Verato’s Pub/Sub solution ensures timely, secure, and scalable data updates across platforms, improving outcomes and operational efficiency.