As an experienced Data Repository report writer, it’s easy to take for granted how much knowledge someone may have about MEDITECH, or assume that hospital IT staff simply know certain things. This was glaringly apparent to me when teaching an introductory DR report writing class recently. Having taught the class for 8+ years, I was presented with a novel situation: the hospital was a brand-new MEDITECH 6.1 client, having switched from another system entirely.
Not only is it possible to access DR data across SQL servers, but it’s also possible to combine data from different sources in the same query. If there is such a thing as the holy grail of DR reporting, this may be it. Not only is it possible to access data across SQL servers, but it’s also possible to combine data from different sources in the same query. Normally this is straightforward, but the DR adds an extra challenge because of an atypical server-wide setting: the server collation.