Testing HL7 Messages

Question

I am in the process of implementing an HL7 Module in our EMR, but I am confused as how to test the messages. I was looking at LabCorp and Surescripts and was unable to find a testing Api or a module, it seems like I will have to deal with bit of bureaucracy to get any help from them.

Is there an easy way to test my HL7 module?

Answer 1

Messaging Workbench allows testing HL7v2 messages against your own data types and segments which might be any, event completely out of "standard". This tool is free, however it is not supported so you get what you get with all glitches and features. Imho, it's still worth to try.

Answer 2

For testing HL7 interfaces I use 3 tools all the time:

• HAPI Test Panel: to send sample messages http://hl7api.sourceforge.net/hapi-testpanel/
• Mirth Connect: to see messages coming through http://www.mirthcorp.com/products/mirth-connect
• WireShark: as a low-level debugger (packet sniffer) https://www.wireshark.org/

Answer 3

I am not sure of the details of your module, however we use Mirth reading sample messages from an FTP server and pushing them through an LLP connector (or XML) to our software as required. This allows us to have a variety of data "sets" and various malformed messages to test against in a reproducible way. In fact we can process 100,000's of messages an hour It also simulates a "real" environment so that we can do load testing.

Answer 4

Caristix Test can help you with hl7 testing. It also helps with test automation (http://caristix.com/products/test/test-plans-at-your-fingertips/) Not free but quite powerful.

Answer 5

HL7 Inspector is a free tool which you can use as an LLP sender/receiver - great for testing purposes. It also has a number of features related to inspecting/validating individual messages.

Answer 6

We always use the 7edit Editor for all HL7 v2 messages (all versions supported) and a great Documentation is being delivered with the editor too.

http://www.7edit.com/