The digital communication landscape in healthcare faces a significant challenge: How can large organizations, such as hospitals or corporate groups, establish a secure, efficient, and unified communication infrastructure without introducing technical complexity or incurring excessive costs? The answer lies in the possibility of operating a corporate TI-Messenger service. This solution not only offers economic advantages but also enhances user experience and builds trust in communication via the TI-Messenger.
The Challenge: Fragmented Infrastructure and Limited Flexibility
Currently, the deployment of the TI-Messenger relies on the use of SMC-B cards, which authenticate the identity of individual facilities. Each facility must operate a separate TI-Messenger service, which creates significant administrative overhead for large organizations with multiple facilities. This fragmented infrastructure complicates the user experience, increases operational costs, and hinders the adoption of modern communication solutions, such as a unified corporate campus chat.
Another drawback of this structure is the lack of transparency: Users often struggle to identify chat partners and associate them with specific organizations, as each facility operates under its own unique Matrix domain. This can lead to uncertainty in communication and negatively impact the acceptance of the TI-Messenger.
The Solution: A Centralized Corporate TI-Messenger Service
The possibility of operating a corporate TI-Messenger service offers an elegant and practical solution. This approach creates a unified trust space that spans all facilities within a corporate group. The registration and management of this service are handled via a central SMC-B card issued to an overarching organizational unit within the corporation. This structure enables the use of a single, unified Matrix domain for the entire corporate group, delivering a range of benefits.
Benefits of a Corporate TI-Messenger Service
Increased Efficiency: Consolidating the infrastructure reduces operational costs and administrative burdens significantly. Instead of managing multiple services for each facility, only one centralized service is required.
Improved User Experience: A unified Matrix domain simplifies the identification of chat partners and fosters trust in communication. External users can easily recognize whether a chat partner belongs to a renowned organization, such as Charité.
Enabling Campus Chats: A centralized corporate service makes it possible to implement a campus chat, optimizing internal communication across the organization. Employees can communicate seamlessly regardless of their specific facility or unit.
Simplified Integration: A centralized structure facilitates the integration of the TI-Messenger into existing IT systems and applications within the corporate group, boosting the efficiency of the entire IT infrastructure.
Consistency and Trust: A consistent user experience and clear association of users with a corporate group improve both the acceptance and trust in the TI-Messenger.
How to Get a Corporate TI-Messenger Service
Organizations interested in operating a corporate TI-Messenger service can follow a straightforward process to get started. Here’s how it works:
Express Your Interest During Card Application: When applying for an SMC-B card through gematik, indicate your intent to operate a corporate TI-Messenger service. This ensures your request is processed with the necessary considerations.
Submit the Required Documentation: Provide the required documentation that outlines the corporate structure and demonstrates your organization’s eligibility. This includes proof of the organizational hierarchy and the ability to manage user accounts across the corporate group.
Choose Between Existing or New Cards: Depending on your organization’s current setup, you can either use an existing SMC-B card for registration or order a new card specifically for this purpose. If you choose to reuse an existing card, ensure it meets the necessary requirements for the corporate service.
Registration and Setup: Once the card is issued or approved, it can be used to register the corporate TI-Messenger service. This includes setting up the unified Matrix domain and ensuring compliance with all relevant guidelines.
Ongoing Management: As part of the registration process, the organization is required to maintain up-to-date corporate structure information and ensure that user accounts are only issued within the corporate group. This guarantees the integrity of the trust space.
By following these steps, organizations can streamline their communication infrastructure and unlock the full potential of a corporate TI-Messenger service.
Conclusion: A Forward-Thinking Solution for Healthcare
The possibility of operating a corporate TI-Messenger service is more than just a technical adjustment—it is a step toward a modern, efficient, and user-friendly communication infrastructure in healthcare. Large organizations, such as hospitals and healthcare networks, stand to benefit significantly from this approach, as it enhances the economic viability and practical usability of the TI-Messenger. By adopting this solution, the TI-Messenger becomes a compelling alternative to existing platforms, driving digital transformation in the healthcare sector.
A new minor version of the test suite has been released. This version includes numerous automated test cases and some updates to the test driver API. For a detailed list of changes, please refer to the ReleaseNotes in the GitHub repository.
Additionally, the patch version improves the cleanup behavior, which is now mandatory to adhere to. This enhancement will increase stability during interoperability tests.
If you encounter any issues with the test suite, please create an issue on GitHub to inform us.
Resources:
Test Suite Repository: https://github.com/gematik/TI-Messenger-Testsuite
Full Release Notes: https://github.com/gematik/TI-Messenger-Testsuite/blob/main/ReleaseNotes.md
Test Driver API: https://github.com/gematik/TI-Messenger-Testsuite/blob/main/src/main/resources/api/TiMessengerTestTreiber.yaml
With our new TI-Messenger feature concept, we are setting a secure standard for automated communication in healthcare. Our goal is to reduce and simplify communication efforts. For instance, incoming TI-Messenger requests from service providers and health insurance companies can be automatically answered by a bot, while personalized reminders can be sent to patients. All of this is achieved while maintaining the highest level of security.
Discover more in our feature concept released today and share your thoughts with us!
Link: https://gemspec.gematik.de/prereleases/Draft_gemF_TI-M_Automatisierung/