Every healthcare organization has some level of interoperability in place—usually baked into their EHR.
However, when it comes to connecting data across large health systems, bespoke apps, or legacy databases, the built-in tools can fall short.
That’s where integration engines come in—flexible software that connects disparate systems so data flows exactly where it’s needed, in the right format. One long-standing option in this space is Mirth® Connect by NextGen Healthcare, which helps organizations connect data sources to destinations to share clinical, operational, and other essential data.
It also supports more complex connections, like linking EHRs to immunization registries, HIEs, and national networks that facilitate care coordination. Originally released as a dual-licensed open-source and commercial solution, it attracted a global user base. Mirth recently shifted to a commercial model, bringing with it full enterprise support and advanced capabilities like a new Command Center.
“Mirth has played an important role in helping organizations define and build their interoperability strategy for their specific needs,” says Mo Chebli, vice president of product management for interoperability at NextGen Healthcare. In this conversation, he shares why interoperability is more critical than ever, what’s new in Mirth Connect 4.6, and how organizations are creatively using the platform to meet evolving demands—from regulatory pressure to AI enablement.
Q: Mirth Connect has been at the forefront of healthcare interoperability for over two decades. Why is it so important today, and what has the platform helped organizations achieve?
Chebli: Interop is mission-critical, and a big part of that comes down to the fact that healthcare is a team sport. There are so many different players involved in a patient's care—primary care, specialists, payers, labs—and they all need to share data, often across various platforms. Even within the same health system, there are internal systems that have to talk to each other. That’s why you need something flexible like Mirth that can manage those connections and scale with you as your environment changes.
Interop should be embedded in the patient journey from the very beginning. When someone calls to schedule an appointment, integration is already happening in the background—checking eligibility, sending appointment reminders, and placing reminder calls. It continues throughout diagnosis, treatment, discharge, and follow-up.
And, of course, there’s the regulatory angle: we have laws like the 21st Century Cures Act and information-blocking rules that now have real teeth. Organizations that don’t allow appropriate access to data can face actual penalties. So, interop isn't optional anymore—it’s a requirement. And organizations need to make sure they’re doing it securely, protecting the privacy of patients as their data moves across different systems.
Mirth has been central to all of that—from helping patients access their records to reducing duplicative testing and supporting compliance. No two integrations are the same, and being able to customize your integration needs is what’s made Mirth successful over time.
Q: What new features and enhancements does Mirth Connect 4.6 deliver?
Chebli: We made some big changes in version 4.6. First, we updated our license. Mirth was open source for a long time, but now it’s transitioned into a commercial product. That means clients get enterprise-level support, consistent security updates, and access to the latest integration standards and deployment models.
From a feature standpoint, one of the major additions is our SSL manager, now deeply integrated into Mirth at all license levels. It helps organizations manage and monitor their security certificates and connectivity to third-party systems. We also launched a Command Center, which gives organizations a unified portal to manage all their deployments. Many health systems are running multiple instances of Mirth across environments, which has been a challenge. The Command Center solves that by providing visibility and analytics across all your connections.
Q: How can healthcare organizations assess whether their current systems are ready for optimal data exchange?
Chebli: Today, EHRs are required to deliver strong APIs that support patient access and third-party vendor integrations. So we always tell people to start there. Are you using all the capabilities your system can already support?
Then, see where your additional needs are. With AI, large language models (LLMs), ambient listening tools, and patient engagement solutions, there’s now so much low-hanging fruit for organizations to add meaningful technology to improve patient and provider experiences. But often, you need integration to do that well—and embed it into the provider’s workflow without adding clicks or red tape. That’s usually where an integration engine like Mirth helps. It solves real-world problems. And because we’re API-first, you can connect with the public APIs now being offered by every major EHR.
Q: What’s a creative use case of Mirth Connect that you can share with our readers?
Chebli: We're constantly getting pinged about our product being used out in the wild in new and creative ways. One of the most interesting ones was a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers used Mirth to extract structured data from Epic and feed it into an LLM to evaluate clinical quality measures for sepsis.
There are arguments that LLMs might be able to solve this kind of knowledge problem on their own without needing codified data through interoperability. However, the study showed that structured interop can actually improve the output of these models.
Another creative use case involves provider inboxes. One of the biggest contributors to provider burnout is managing message overload. Mirth is being used in combination with an LLM to read the inbox and identify and respond proactively to messages. That's a multifaceted exchange—back and forth between AI and an interop engine—to make it all work. The industry has been developing these interop tools for a long time, and it’s exciting to finally see them powering the next wave of innovation.
Mirth® Connect by NextGen Healthcare delivers highly flexible integration tooling for any organization tasked with data integration, whether you need to connect many internal systems or are building a product of your own. Mirth Connect allows you to optimize your interoperability needs regardless of the system, message type, and transfer protocol. This proven integration engine, with nearly 20 years of expertise, has a template-driven architecture, providing for quick, easy, and flexible development. Learn more at nextgen.com.