Healthcare Integration Testing Case Study

Customer: Queensland Health
Industry: Healthcare
Project: Integration platform re-platforming across 350 applications
Migration: eGate and JCaps to Orion Health Rhapsody
Platforms: HealthTest · Enigma
Delivery: Client site, with Brisbane and Perth delivery centres

The challenge

350 applications.
One integration platform.

The state's health integration platform carried messages between about 350 clinical and administrative applications. Replacing it meant proving that every interface, message and patient record would behave correctly on the new platform, without disrupting hospitals or putting patient safety at risk.

Competitors bidding for the testing estimated 40 to 46 testers for 36 months. That scale of manual testing would have been slow, expensive and heavily dependent on clinical staff to validate results, taking them away from patients for long periods.

The integration landscape also carried sensitive patient data. Testing at realistic volumes required production-like records, but privacy obligations meant real patient information could not simply be copied into test environments, where access is wider and controls are weaker than in production.

What made it hard

Hundreds of connected applications: About 350 applications exchanged messages through the platform, each with its own interfaces and message types.
Production volumes to prove: The new platform had to be validated at real-world message volumes, not just sample transactions.
Patient data privacy: Realistic testing needed patient records, but personal health information had to stay protected in every test environment.

Our solution

Automation that tested
at production scale.

PinnacleQM replaced large-scale manual testing with its healthcare automation solution. HL7 messages and patient records were validated automatically at production volume, while clinical teams reviewed evidence instead of testing by hand, freeing their time for patients.

The healthcare automation processed 90,000 patient records in 90 seconds and supported more than five million tests a day. Coverage that would have needed dozens of testers was executed by automation and virtual testers, run by a small specialist team.

HealthTest: A specialised health product combining QMfactory test management, Enginuity code-free test automation and elements of Authorise user certification, with HL7 definitions built in.
Enigma: Obfuscates clinical messages in two modes. Standard mode replaces names, addresses and contact details while keeping referential integrity; advanced mode works through free text and aliases, so Robert is also Rob, Bob and Bobby.
Quality governance: A test strategy framework, risk-based quality gate controls, and test environment and data management, from development testing through system, integration, performance and business acceptance to production.

How it was automated

Design, execution
and verification, all automated.

The three stages of the testing process, each one carried by the platform rather than by testers.

01
Test design
- Requirements traceability
  Requirements held in QMfactory and mapped to releases and test cases, with standard reports showing any gap in coverage.
- Test design
  Requirements decomposed into testable items, scenarios and conditions, prioritised so the most critical are tested first.
- Test data obfuscation
  Copies of production HL7 messages split and sanitised automatically: 1,500 messages in under 10 seconds.
02
Test execution
- Predicting expected results
  Reusable components predict expected outcomes from real-time inputs, down to segment, element and sub-component.
- Scheduling
  Whole suites scheduled in advance and run in parallel against different environments and application versions.
- Execution
  Scriptless tests run at scale by parallel virtual testers, modelled on real production volumes and transaction mixes.
03
Verification
- HL7 comparison
  Bulk comparison across thousands of messages by structure, string and hexadecimal, with virtually no manual effort.
- Search and filter
  Multi-level filtering and search across large result sets, saved through cycles for retesting.
- Defect recording
  Defects raised automatically from failed test steps, with impact analysis and extra cycles scheduled for each fix.

The proof

Faster,
smaller and $10M cheaper.

The programme finished two years ahead of competitor estimates.

The results

Test team 7 testers Competitors estimated 40 to 46 testers.

Duration 12 months Competitor estimates were 36 months, 24 months longer.

Saving $10M+ Estimated saving against the competing approach.

The benefits

What the
health service gained.

Beyond time and cost, the approach reduced risk for patients and clinical teams.

Programme delivered 24 months sooner than competitor estimates.
More than $10 million saved against the competing approach.
Production-volume validation of about 350 connected applications.
Patient data protected throughout testing.
Far less clinical time spent on testing and validation.
Reusable automation assets for future integration changes.

More outcomes

More healthcare
and automation results.

Healthcare

Five million patient transactions a day, safely tested

HealthTest obfuscated production records and tested more than 5 million transactions per day, validating a state healthcare platform without exposing patient information.

Test Environment & Data