CME Platform for Doctors

Frameworks are a great advantage to website programming: the extensive libraries simplify developing routines for programmers, thus ensuring that complex projects can be implemented with reasonable effort and at a reasonable cost. About 80% of all websites use PHP as a server-side programming language. This trend is set to increase. PHP as a scripting language has always performed well in the case of logical operations embedded in HTML. However, it is only with the significantly improved object model in version 5 that the advantages of object-oriented programming can be exploited. Thus began the rise of PHP for business applications 10 years ago.

TWT Digital Health has successfully used PHP in a number of web projects since. To this end, we have developed the xmZFramework, using the Zend Framework MVC architecture for the creation of customer applications among other things. Unlike other frameworks, Zend is backed by a large company (Zend Technologies), which programs the PHP core, thus ensuring timely adjustments for current requirements. Consequently, this framework is considered a solid foundation for high-performance and secure enterprise software. Since it is consistently modular and object-oriented, it can be used flexibly, even in combination with existing.

TWT Digital Health has utilized this technology to implement a CME platform, which enables doctors to complete their legally prescribed continuing education online, for an international pharmaceutical company. A large number of requirements had to be met, including: complex user and role management; connectivity to an external authentication system (DocCheck integration); double opt-in registration that permits legally compliant communication; and finally transfer of the acquired continuing-education certificates to the documentation server of the medical association. Since this is an international customer, multilingualism was an additional requirement.

Why PHP? “In this case, it was crucial that the courses be hosted in the USA,” said Markus Tusche, a software developer at TWT Digital Health. This host favored implementation in PHP. “The distinct separation of content, business logic and presentation enabled us to customize the application to the customer’s processes and the several external interfaces. The global infrastructure of a customer primarily determines the PHP or Java decision. And here, PHP is very versatile,” continued Tusche.

This versatility is what makes this framework such a frequently used tool, with which TWT Digital Health has completed various projects in recent years, including: an international marketing extranet for LAMY, a manufacturer of writing instruments and market leader in Germany; an online library for Thieme Compliance, a scientific publishing house; and a lead-generation platform for software producer SAS. TWT Digital Health also deploys the Zend Framework in many other projects, for example, to map complex authentication concepts, to convert images to be displayed on the fly, or to reply to search queries in conjunction with xmsearch. This central service, run on TWT Digital Health servers, permits the use of complex filters to optimize search routines.

Due to our many years’ experience and successful reference projects in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, we are experts in communication with specialist groups.

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