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Developing software
You need to use the HI licensed material and complete product testing if you want to either:
- develop new products
- update existing products that connect to the HI Service.
Accessing the HI licensed material
You can access the HI licensed material in the Health Systems Developer Portal. The portal is a secure platform. You’ll need to register your organisation to access it.
You’ll need to be an authorised officer of your organisation and have an Individual Provider Digital Access (PRODA) account before you can register your organisation in the portal. You can create an Individual PRODA account now if you don’t have one.
Accessing the software development environment
Once you have registered your organisation in the developer portal, you’ll get an email from our Online Technical Support team. The email will tell you about the software development environment and how to access the technical resources.
You can use the resources to help with product development and some of the required product testing.
Testing requirements
Testing is mandatory for all products developed or updated to connect with the HI Service. You need to complete the testing before we’ll give you production access.
There are 2 types of mandatory testing:
- Notice of Connection (NOC). This test confirms your product connects successfully with the HI. We manage the NOC testing process.
Once you've completed NOC testing for each version of your products, you must keep a record of the:
- vendor ID
- product name
- product version.
- Conformance Testing. The test is conducted by the Australian Digital Health Agency. There is no associated cost.
The testing ensures that the software supports the safe implementation and use of healthcare identifiers in clinical environments. The specifications and conformance tests were developed by the Australian Digital Health Agency in consultation with the digital health industry.
Information about starting the conformance testing process is available on the Australian Digital Health Agency website. You can also email them with your questions.
We recommend products not directly connecting to the HI Service, but still using healthcare identifiers, complete conformance testing. It ensures products use and manage healthcare identifiers in a way that supports clinical safety. We recommend you complete NOC testing before conformance testing.
Accessing the HI production environment
Our Healthcare Identifier Vendor Operations team will email you a URL to access the HI production environment. You’ll get the email once your product has passed the NOC and CCA testing requirements.
You can email the Healthcare Identifier Vendor Operations team if you want to know more about either:
- getting access to the HIS production environment
- the status of your production access.
Publishing a product on the eHealth Register of Conformity
You can have your product published on the eHealth Register of Conformity if you want to. The ADHA manage the register. It lists assessed software products and the versions that meet national digital health requirements. You must declare the conformance of your products to have them on the register. You can read more about the register on the My Health Record website.