About Playbook

At Ocean, our vision is to enable different systems connect to our services to facilitate better provider and patient care. We aim to simplify the work to connect by using interoperability standards, a solution that is beneficial to both us and implementors. The HL7 FHIR API standards are a foundation of interoperability which improve continuation of care and collaboration. The Ocean team aims to provide new integrators with the option of connecting to Ocean as an integrated EMR/EHR/RIS (healthcare system) using a single, well-defined FHIR API protocol.

About Ocean Provider Network

The Ocean Provider Network consists of products which help providers provide better care to patients in addition to helping healthcare work better for everyone by coordinating care among clinician and systems. These products include any type of eRequest, including eReferrals, eConsults, eOrders and eSubmissions. More information can be found here.

To support interoperability, Ocean utilizes FHIR APIs to enable connection with different health systems. These FHIR APIs allow for both the sending and receiving of eConsults, eReferrals, and eReferral updates to and from healthcare POS systems in real time. This integration enables staff to manage referrals within their healthcare POS systems, as well as eliminating manual entry and transcription errors. An additional benefit of the FHIR eReferral-eConsult API integration is that it allows a scalable approach to building an integrated health system; where aspects of a sending workflow can be built first and scaled to encompass more integrations and more workflows like the receiving workflow, and vice versa.

The APIs follow the HL7 FHIR Release 4 standard, as profiled in the Ontario eReferral-eConsult HL7 FHIR Implementation Guide (iGuide). There are multiple versions of the iGuide. All implementers are strongly encouraged to utilize the v0.11.1 version of the iGuide for net new integrations; only vendors with existing v0.10.0 APIs should refer to the v0.10.0 guidance. Additionally, as the messages Ocean sends and receives are outlined by the iGuides, anything present in Ocean shouldn’t supersede the iGuide.

As the APIs have already been built and configured in Ocean, the work required to implement the integration between Ocean and healthcare systems will typically be on the implementor with little assistance required from Ocean support. The advantage of this is that you can proceed with your project independently without advanced coordination with the OceanMD team.

Purpose

The purpose of this playbook is to have all the information required to successfully integrate with Ocean’s Provider Network APIs in one easily accessible document, and to facilitate easier and seamless integration with Ocean's FHIR APIs. Additionally, there are links present which will redirect to articles and provide more information about certain topics. This playbook is an additional and cohesive documentation to help vendors implement the Ocean FHIR Integrations in combination with the eReferral implementation guide as we recommend referring to the iGuide for more extensive explanation and information on the eReferral FHIR APIs, message events, and FHIR resources. This playbook is your starting point for integrating with Ocean by providing the following information:

  • Recommended Ocean integration instructions and workflows.
  • Sharing information from other integrators that illustrate how best to use the Ocean APIs to achieve integration goals.
  • Highlight integration nuances, tips and tricks, and FAQs to reduce implementation kinks and further allow seamless integration.

Overview

The playbook covers integration with Ocean’s FHIR APIs to receive eReferrals as both a sender and receiver. It includes the following topics:

  • Setting up your FHIR API Integration – how to set up your eReferrals integration with Ocean
  • Payloads – following the setup of the integration, this section reviews the payloads used by Ocean
  • User Workflows – highlighting the sending, receiving, and special eReferral workflows used in Ocean
  • Best Practices – best practices on testing and deploying your integration
  • Tips and Tricks – tips and tricks to consider when implementing your integration
  • FAQs – most common error messages and questions you might encounter with your integration