Federated Retrieval
Federated retrieval enables participating organizations to exchange clinical documents directly with one another rather than retrieving records from the normalized Patient360 repository.
In this model, Health Gorilla verifies patient identity and routes the request to the responding system, and the responding system returns the documents directly to the requester without storing or transforming them in the Health Gorilla platform. This approach is used when organizations want to maintain full control of their source data or operate within private or internal exchange environments.
Key Characteristics
| Attribute | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Response model | Direct delivery between systems |
| Data storage | No data stored or normalized in Health Gorilla |
| Record formats | Returned in original source format |
| Identity handling | Identity verified via the MPI |
| Routing ownership | Health Gorilla routes the request |
| Document fulfillment | Responding system |
| Audit visibility | Inbound request appears in TEC > EHR Audit |
| Viewer visibility | Records do not appear in Patient Viewer |
Use Cases
Federated retrieval is commonly used when:
- Clinical documents cannot be persisted in external platforms
- Organizations require end-to-end control of source records
- Real-time direct delivery is preferred over record aggregation
- Retrieval is part of a private-network integration model rather than national exchange networks
General Workflow
Federated retrieval follows a direct relay delivery model.
- A retrieval request is submitted to Health Gorilla
- The MPI verifies the patient identity
- The request is routed to the responding system
- The responding system retrieves records from its internal EHR
- Document links or binary content are returned directly to the requester
- The requester downloads the documents from the responding system
Common Outcomes
| Result Behavior | Explanation |
|---|---|
| No document links returned | No records matched the criteria or demographics mismatch |
| Links returned but download fails | Issue in the responding system’s binary delivery |
| Response not visible in audit | Routing issue before handoff |
| Fewer records than expected | Request limited by date or scope |
Outcome Expectations
- Effective use of federated retrieval ensures that:
- Patient identity matching and routing are validated
- Document availability and response behavior are confirmed
- Issues can be isolated to identity, routing, scope, or responder fulfillment
- Requesters understand expected response patterns and follow efficient escalation steps
Best Practices
- Validate patient demographics before resubmitting a request
- Broaden the date range if testing for availability
- Review TEC > EHR Audit to confirm routing
- Check response type (no links vs. failed links)
- Use retry rather than creating duplicate requests