PilotFish Product Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is PilotFish?

PilotFish is a data integration engine designed for seamless connectivity across various systems, applications, and databases. It offers an intuitive graphical interface for easy mapping and transformation of data, supporting a wide range of standards like HL7, FHIR, X12 EDI, JSON, and XML. Ideal for industries including healthcare and insurance, PilotFish facilitates efficient data exchange without the need for extensive coding. For more detailed information, visit our Product Overview and Integration Solutions pages.

2. How does an interface engine work?

Interface engines are software architected to receive incoming messages and route them to the appropriate target information systems. They also translate the messages into formats that the receiving system can understand. Standardized protocols are employed for exchanging data. Efficient tools for parsing and data validation and up-to-date application software are expected.

3. What is an interface engine in healthcare?

Interface Engines in healthcare are software systems for exchanging healthcare information in use cases involving disparate systems communicating over different protocols. They must adeptly handle data transformation and exchange of not only large batch-oriented data and HL7 2.x and other version messaging, but also highly conversational XML and JSON APIs – including HL7 FHIR.

4. What is a healthcare integration engine?

A Healthcare Integration Engine is a software system designed to exchange disparate healthcare information between the systems in the healthcare ecosphere communicating over different protocols. They handle data transformation and exchange of not only large batch-oriented data and all versions of the HL7 messaging standard as well as highly conversational XML and JSON APIs, including HL7 FHIR.

5. What file types can be processed by PilotFish?

PilotFish is capable of processing X12 EDI, XML, CSV, JSON, PDF, HL7, FHIR, NCPDP, ACORD files and many others. See Product Specifications.

6. What is integration engine software?

Integration engine software is a software program and its components architected to process data received from source systems, translate the messages into formats required by receiving target systems, and then route the data to the identified targets. Think nerve center, traffic cop or hub to manage all the data flows between the disparate and multiple technologies in an IT environment.

7. What standards and terminologies does PilotFish support in the healthcare industry?

PilotFish is designed for comprehensive adaptability, supporting a wide range of health-related standards including X12 EDI, NCPDP, HL7, CDA, and FHIR. Additionally, it is proficient in various health-related terminologies like LOINC, SNOMED, CPT, HCPCS, ICD-10, and RXnorm, among others. This extensive support ensures seamless integration for a multitude of healthcare applications.

8. Is PilotFish software used for Healthcare Payer Solutions?

Yes, PilotFish provides software solutions for healthcare payer integration and claims processing. PilotFish’s integration engine for payers helps streamline healthcare payer operations, improve CMS compliance, and manage EDI solutions. PilotFish’s suite of integration engine solutions delivers rapid interoperability in virtually every area of healthcare, including healthcare payer integration. PilotFish’s software is utilized by 90% of the top insurers and leading health payers, and its proven EDI claims processing solutions for Property & Casualty insurers and Health Payers address the needs of healthcare payers. PilotFish has also partnered with healthcare tech companies to provide best-of-breed integration software purpose-built for facilitating the interoperability of disparate systems for healthcare payers.

9. How does PilotFish compare to other integration platforms?

PilotFish’s Integration Platform consistently wins over other integration platforms such as MuleSoft’s Anypoint Platform and ECMap in terms of lower cost, higher ROI, and ease-of-use. Additionally, PilotFish’s integration engine is built on Java and supports linking internal and external business applications, making it a suitable option for medium to large enterprises. Overall, PilotFish’s Integration Platform offers a cost-effective and user-friendly solution for businesses looking to integrate their systems and applications.

10. Who is a MuleSoft competitor for the Anypoint Platform?

PilotFish consistently wins in side-by-side evaluations ranking higher in overall ease-of-use, depth of functionality and time to configure, test and deploy integrations. PilotFish’s integration suite costs a whole lot less than Anypoint too, as well as delivering a whole lot more. Read the details. MuleSoft vs PilotFish – Which One Comes Out on Top?

11. How does PilotFish minimize IT overhead in comparison to competitors like Mirth?

PilotFish is engineered for maximum flexibility and minimal coding requirements, ensuring easy integration with existing systems and significantly reducing IT workload. Its intuitive graphical interface further simplifies integration processes, offering a user-friendly solution that lessens the learning curve and IT strain, particularly in routine integrations. Review our PilotFish Competitive Advantages article.

12. Does PilotFish offer a Software as Service model (SaaS)?

PilotFish solutions can be deployed in the cloud or on-premises, but a SaaS model is not available. PilotFish does provide initial setup and training services.

13. How does PilotFish seamlessly integrate data from diverse sources and formats?

PilotFish’s integration engine effortlessly processes data from various sources and formats, automating data transformation and normalization to align with client and trading partner system requirements.

14. Can PilotFish’s Listener component manage various communication protocols and data transformations?

Absolutely, the PilotFish Listener component expertly manages an extensive array of communication protocols and executes macro operations on incoming data, enhancing flexibility in data receipt and preprocessing.

15. Can PilotFish support multiple data sources and targets, and how does it handle data routing?

Yes, PilotFish can handle multiple data sources and targets. It uses a highly configurable routing mechanism to differentiate and process data accordingly, which can be tailored to meet specific workflow requirements during the setup. Watch this video demo with HL7, X12 EDI, FHIR input data sources and then JSON and a database as the target formats.

16. Can PilotFish’s integration engine be used to integrate with non-healthcare entities?

PilotFish’s integration platform suite of products enables the integration of anything to anything, anywhere and in any way. Additionally, our integration engine is being leveraged by virtually every stakeholder in healthcare, including data analytics and revenue cycle providers, channel partners and manufacturers. PilotFish’s software handles X12 EDI, HL7, FHIR, NCPDP, CCDA, ACORD, XML and more with over 200+ B2B processors, transports, and listeners included out-of-the-box.

17. Can PilotFish’s integration tools be applied in industries other than data integration and do they cater to a technical user base across various sectors?

Yes, PilotFish’s integration tools are versatile and applicable across multiple industries, catering to technical users with diverse integration needs. Whether you work in healthcare, finance, insurance, or any other sector requiring data conversion, PilotFish’s tools can be tailored to suit your technical requirements, making them a valuable asset in various domains.

18. Does PilotFish enable real-time data integration and live reporting?

Absolutely, PilotFish facilitates instantaneous data exchange and provides the eiDashboard a web-based application for dynamic, real-time reports and dashboards.

19. Why is long-term viability important when selecting PilotFish as your integration platform?

Long-term viability is crucial because it ensures that PilotFish remains a robust and adaptable solution for your integration needs. The platform supports every principal healthcare standard and data source, such as X12 EDI, NCPDP, HL7, CDA, FHIR, and XML. It’s designed to seamlessly accommodate emerging standards and formats, ensuring your investments are future-proof.

20. Can PilotFish redirect claims to third-party processors?

Yes, PilotFish can route claims to any third-party processor as required. For example, If you need the claim sent via FTP, PilotFish can drop a file anywhere it is required. The PilotFish product suite includes 40+ Listeners/Adaptors that ship with the product and an Open API, which allows for the creation of custom adapters using Java or .NET.

21. Does PilotFish support ITX and SPLUNK integrations for file conversions?

Yes, PilotFish includes ITX or “Interpreted Text” compatibility and has built-in Splunk Listeners and Processors for immediate Splunk integration.

22. Can PilotFish manage both medical and pharmaceutical benefit eligibility verifications?

Yes, PilotFish efficiently processes eligibility inquiries for both medical and pharmaceutical benefits, ensuring comprehensive validation and support for clinical transactions. See our Pharmacy Claims Processing or NCPDP Integration Solution case studies as examples.

23. What is the best data mapper?

The best data mapper allows users to visually map data using drag & drop and without any coding or scripting. PilotFish offers a data mapping component as part of its integration solution that does just that. PilotFish’s data mapper features a sophisticated 3-pane visual drag & drop mapper that allows users to do anything that they can do programmatically in the graphical view. The PilotFish data mapper makes users more productive and offers reusability for HL7, HIPAA EDI, XML, NCPDP, CCDA and other message types. It can handle any data mapping task from simple to complex without coding/scripting or users can work directly in the XSLT view. Watch the video to see it in action.

Data Mapper – Drag & Drop

24. How user-friendly is PilotFish’s Data Mapper for non-technical users?

PilotFish’s Data Mapper component, powered by XSLT, provides intuitive graphical mapping ideal for non-technical users, along with direct code editing capabilities for advanced transformations, accommodating all user proficiency levels.

25. Does PilotFish support both bulk and real-time data validation?
Absolutely. PilotFish excels in both bulk and real-time validation, featuring a user-friendly interface that facilitates swift validations with instant results.

26. Is data validation with PilotFish processed locally on the client’s servers or on PilotFish servers?

With PilotFish, validation is conducted entirely within the client’s server environment, ensuring data privacy and security. There is no transfer of data to PilotFish servers for validation purposes. The software operates seamlessly in the client’s infrastructure, with the only external communication being for license verification.

27. Does PilotFish support single sign-on (SSO)?

Typically single sign-on is outside the scope of what our software does and is the responsibility of the IT infrastructure/security team. However, PilotFish can communicate complex web API calls with our API XL features. So, if something uses SSO (usually something with tokens) we can likely communicate with it. If a user wanted to create some web app using PilotFish we could probably build out an SSO authentication scheme, specifically, that would be via a route configuration.

28. What information does PilotFish require to initiate an eligibility transaction, is it just basic patient demographics?

PilotFish requires a clear understanding of the data schema and a sample file to effectively initiate an eligibility transaction, ensuring accurate processing.

29. Can the eiPlatform be deployed across various server environments, including cloud-based infrastructures?

Our eiPlatform offers versatile deployment options across multiple server environments, such as on-premises, hybrid, and fully cloud-based solutions, guaranteeing smooth integration with any infrastructure.

30. What is the preferred deployment environment for PilotFish?

PilotFish offers clients the freedom to choose their ideal deployment environment. Whether it is a physical server installation or utilizing a cloud platform like Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Google Cloud, the choice is yours.

31. Can I deploy the PilotFish software on a Linux environment without using products like IBM WebSphere?

Yes! PilotFish software can be effortlessly installed on any Linux environment supporting Java 17 and the recent Jakarta server API, like Tomcat. To get started, check out our Knowledge Hub for technical documentation or contact us for technical support.

32. How efficiently does PilotFish handle large files? Are there any file size constraints?

PilotFish is engineered to adeptly manage large files. The size limit depends on various factors, including server resources. It’s possible to process large files efficiently by chunking them if necessary.

33. Is the PilotFish solution scalable to accommodate future expansions, such as adding more facilities or data sources?

Yes, the solution is designed to be scalable. PilotFish can support future expansions by incorporating additional data sources and facilities without requiring a comprehensive system overhaul. See our Product Specs for a quick overview.

34. Does the PilotFish eiDashboard facilitate executive-level dashboards and monitor business activities? Is it scalable to accommodate growth and new systems?

Yes, PilotFish’s eiDashboard enables advanced executive dashboard functionality and business activity monitoring. It is designed to scale with your business, adapting seamlessly to new systems and data sources, ensuring sustainable integration solutions.

35. Does PilotFish provide user and testing interface environments such as UAT, PSUP, SIT and PROD?

Yes, PilotFish offers the capability to set up and manage different environments for development, testing, and production. Each of these environments can be configured with the required settings, data, and access controls.

36. Can small to mid-sized businesses leverage PilotFish’s Integration Engine effectively?

Absolutely. PilotFish’s Integration Engine is designed for scalability, making it suitable for organizations of any size. It also supports agent deployment tailored for specific client environments.

37. How is PilotFish software licensed?

PilotFish offers a dual licensing model: The Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is licensed on a per-concurrent-user basis, while the runtime engine is licensed for each production instance.

38. Does PilotFish charge per connection?

No, PilotFish operates on a volume-based licensing model with a minimum monthly fee, charging by the minute beyond the total volume of a 4-core 16-gigabyte server.

39. How is PilotFish pricing determined? Is it based on transaction volume or resource usage?

PilotFish pricing is not directly tied to the number of transactions but rather to the resources required to support your workflow. This may involve adding more memory or cores to your server as needed.

40. Does licensing PilotFish require in-house IT coders for data cleanup before integration, or does PilotFish provide this service?

PilotFish manages all aspects of data manipulation, including cleansing and preparation for integration. Our comprehensive implementation services include custom integration builds, training for client teams, and collaborative support. This flexibility means that clients do not necessarily need their own IT coders for data preparation.

41. What is required on the client’s side to implement and maintain the PilotFish solution?

Clients are required to fill out an Interface Requirements Form to specify their integration needs. Training on interface management and maintenance is available, with options for ongoing support contracts. After initial interfaces are set up, the maintenance effort is expected to be low, with most issues arising from external factors like network issues or third-party system updates.

42. What types of support and resources does PilotFish offer to assist technical users of their integration tools?

PilotFish provides an array of resources to support technical users of their integration tools. These include documentation, video tutorials, and access to a dedicated support team. You can find these resources on our website or reach out to our support team for assistance with any technical questions or challenges you encounter during your data conversion projects by using the Contact Us form.

43. What robust security measures are in place for PilotFish’s data integration?

PilotFish ensures HIPAA compliance with stringent security measures to safeguard PHI (Protected Health Information), utilizing encryption and secure data handling protocols.

44. Does Pilotfish manage the intricate aspects of connectivity, such as the initial handshake, signatures, authentication, token generation, and signature checks?

Absolutely, PilotFish takes care of all these aspects. We handle various security protocols, including Single Sign-On (SSO), certificates, basic authentication, and Transport Layer Security (TLS). All these components are seamlessly integrated into our system.

45. How does PilotFish handle error management and notifications for failed transactions?

PilotFish has mechanisms for monitoring inactivity and errors, including connection timeouts. It can send notifications through various methods, such as email alerts or SMS (via external services like AWS SNS), when transactions fail or when there is inactivity beyond a configured threshold.

46. What is the level of complexity involved in configuring routing rules and monitoring transactions for errors in PilotFish?

PilotFish’s routing layer enables a straightforward setup of message flow rules. The robust Transaction Monitoring feature streamlines error management by directing exceptions to a specific error route for centralized oversight and simplified troubleshooting.

47. Does PilotFish offer the functionality for bulk reporting of validation errors, especially when dealing with a large number of files?

PilotFish’s system primarily handles validations per transaction. However, part of the solution suite includes the eiDashboard, a separate web application that can be used for bulk reporting. The powerful eiDashboard enables users to run queries on failures and results, providing in-depth insights from a comprehensive database. However, each file’s validation report must be viewed individually unless configured for aggregated viewing.

48. Can PilotFish manage real-time transaction certificate renewals and provide notifications?

Yes, PilotFish can be configured to monitor SSL/TLS certificate validity in transactions and as an option, you can automatically notify administrators when a certificate is approaching its expiration date.

49. How does PilotFish support monitoring, logging, and alerting in the eiConsole IDE?

PilotFish eiConsole users can use log4j2 for advanced logging customization within the application. PilotFish also offers the eiDashboard for comprehensive monitoring. Additionally, users can leverage external tools like Datadog for enhanced alerting capabilities, as well as other platforms, underscoring the need to build a robust support framework around it.

50. Does PilotFish offer a REST or SFTP Listener available for data connectivity?

Yes, PilotFish features a RESTful Web Service Listener for optimal data connectivity, which can be deployed within the client’s environment to facilitate secure data reception via HTTPS. We also have an FTP/SFTP Listener with many configuration options.

51. Does PilotFish offer a callback mechanism to confirm data insertion?

Yes, PilotFish supports both synchronous and asynchronous integration approaches, with real-time responses and callbacks to verify data insertion.

52. Does PilotFish offer a database connector for direct database insertions?

Yes, PilotFish supports a variety of protocols, including direct database insertion. We can establish connections to any service as needed by our clients.

53. Is it possible to connect the PilotFish eiDashboard with Active Directory (AD) for user authentication?

Definitely! You can connect the PilotFish eiDashboard with Active Directory (AD), enabling streamlined user authentication and access control.

54. Does the PilotFish eiDashboard allow viewing of associated files or transactions?

Yes! The PilotFish dashboard has been designed with users in mind, enabling them to trace and access associated files or transactions based on specific metadata or attributes. If the necessary metadata is tagged appropriately, users can easily view the correlated files. For a deeper dive, explore our eiDashboard features.

55. Does PilotFish process the entire stack and then transmit it through a RESTful service when addresses change?

Yes, PilotFish manages the entire process. However, the necessary services for sending must be provided to us.

56. Does PilotFish operate exclusively at the application layer without involving the network layer?

That’s correct. In PilotFish, all operations occur at the application layer. From the moment we receive a message, we manage it until it’s successfully delivered to the intended recipient.

57. Does PilotFish offer analytics and reporting on data integration aspects such as errors, document flow, transmission volumes and related metrics?

Yes, PilotFish’s eiSuite, which includes the eiDashboard, delivers web-based analytics and reporting on various aspects of data integration, including documents, errors, and transaction volumes. It also allows monitoring and analyzing the documents that pass through the integration engine. This includes tracking the number of documents, types of documents and any transformations or routing.

58. Can PilotFish offer real-time data collection without compromising the performance of existing systems?

Yes, PilotFish ensures efficient real-time or near-real-time data collection by operating off the reporting database, thereby eliminating any negative impact on the performance of your production database.

59. How can I configure the eiConsole to have access to more memory in order for it to appropriately be able to handle larger interfaces and transactions?

You can increase the memory available to the eiConsole by adding or updating the eiConsole.vmoptions parameter in the configuration file in the install folder. Once this setting is changed, the eiConsole will have to be restarted for it to use the newly changed value. An example value is shown below to give the eiConsole access to 2560 Mbytes of memory.
Set the maximum RAM available to the application -Xmx2560m

60. Can PilotFish aggregate data for customized dashboards catering to diverse user profiles?

Indeed, PilotFish can aggregate and distribute data across customized dashboards designed for a variety of user profiles with the eiDashboard, ensuring access to pertinent and actionable insights tailored to individual roles and requirements.

61. Is there a list of special characters that are not supported in PilotFish during data transformations?

By default, PilotFish processes data using the UTF-8 encoding standard. Any characters outside of that character set could potentially cause transformation problems. PilotFish can be configured to use other encodings, if necessary. Additionally, any characters that could invalidate XML or XSLT will need to be escaped to avoid transformation problems.

62. Does PilotFish’s integration platform support Snowflake, the cloud-based data warehouse?

Yes, PilotFish can load data into Snowflake with the Snowflake JDBC driver. View the more detailed documentation on how to connect Snowflake in PilotFish’s eiConsole.

63. Does PilotFish Support IPv6 protocol?

Yes, PilotFish products support IPv6 connections. Java applications support both IPv4 and IPv6 automatically. PilotFish products are Java-based. Here is a Networking IPv6 User Guide that you may find helpful.

64. How does PilotFish enable extensibility through custom development?

PilotFish allows seamless integration with custom Java code, enabling the creation of custom processors and listeners. The tool also supports versatile scripting in a variety of languages such as Ruby and Python, which provides additional flexibility to extend functionality as needed.

65. Does PilotFish offer a specialized tool or studio for interface development?

Yes, we do. PilotFish provides a dedicated development tool or studio, allowing developers to install it on their laptops for efficient interface development. Learn more about the eiConsole IDE.

66. Besides the GUI, does PilotFish provide a command-line interface (CLI) for detailed interfacing?

Yes, PilotFish offers the eiDashboard as a separate product. It provides real-time data inspection, reporting, and graphical interfaces, in addition to the GUI. The eiDashboard is included as part of the on-demand license.

67. Is PilotFish optimized for efficient search performance?

Yes, PilotFish utilizes several architectural elements that contribute to efficient search. These include Optimized Data Indexing, Scalable Database Management and Caching Mechanisms for fast, precise data retrieval. Advanced Search Query Capabilities allow users to filter and retrieve data based on things like transaction IDs, dates, specific content within messages, error codes etc. Real-time processing and parallel techniques ensure currency of data and system robustness, while efficient resource management guarantees system sustainability during search operations.

68. How does PilotFish accommodate unique client requirements beyond its existing capabilities?

PilotFish prides itself on its architecture’s extensibility and flexibility. Custom functionalities can be seamlessly integrated through its Open API, using either Java or .Net, minimizing the need for extensive custom development.