eReferral CoP Session #6

On October 23, 2025, the eReferral Community of Practice (CoP) came together to discuss the importance of conformance testing in interoperability. This page shares key learnings and highlights from the group’s discussion.

Conformance Testing – Advancing Interoperability

Conformance testing was the central topic, with presentations and discussions focused on how jurisdictions can ensure their eReferral systems meet interoperability standards.

• Conformance testing was defined as verifying that systems meet specified standards to enable closed-loop electronic referrals, ensuring vendors can exchange information reliably and securely.
• The community of practice addressed how conformance testing validates both vendor implementations and the completeness of the standards themselves, with a focus on building a pool of interoperable vendors.
• Ontario shared its phased approach to conformance testing, including shakedown, vendor self-testing, formal proctored testing, and direct vendor-to-vendor testing.
• The use of dedicated test suites and collaboration platforms was highlighted as critical for supporting vendors and ensuring alignment with specifications.
• The 2025 Projectathon brought together vendors and partners to collaboratively test the pan-Canadian eReferral specification, identify gaps, and validate interoperability.
• The Venuiti team demonstrated Ontario’s conformance suite, show

Challenges & Insights

• Evolving standards and specifications require ongoing updates, which can create dependencies, blockers, and confusion for vendors and program administrators.
• Connecting to jurisdictional architectures introduces additional layers, making troubleshooting and iterative development slower and more complex.
• Direct interaction between vendors, standards teams, and program administrators leads to rapid identification and resolution of specification gaps, improving overall interoperability.
• Simulating full clinical workflows (not just isolated transactions) is critical for validating real-world interoperability and user experience.
• Reviewing the vendor’s system interface helps ensure that the way data is organized and displayed supports the needs of the clinical team.

Questions?

Have questions? Complete this submission form and a member of the eReferral CoP will respond as soon as possible. Note: Some questions may require discussion and will be presented at a future quarterly eReferral CoP meeting.  

If you are just looking to stay informed on the eReferral CoP meeting topic, an update will be available following each quarterly session.