Overview of the Sandbox

The Health Gorilla Sandbox is a fully functional environment designed to simulate real-world healthcare data exchanges. It allows developers to build, test, and refine their applications in a controlled setting without impacting live systems. Here’s what you need to know to get started:

How to Access the Sandbox

Obtain Access:

Access to the sandbox environment must be requested through our contact page. Navigate to Health Gorilla Contact Page and fill out the required information. A member of our team will reach out to you with further instructions.

Sandbox Entry Points:

Once you have been granted access, you can use the Health Gorilla Sandbox through two main entry points:

• Health Gorilla UI: A user-friendly interface that allows you to interact with the sandbox environment.
• RESTful API: For more programmatic access, you can use our RESTful API to integrate and test your applications directly.

Features and Limitations

While the sandbox provides a comprehensive testing environment, there are some important features and limitations to be aware of:

Closed System:

The sandbox environment is a closed system, meaning that emails and messages cannot be sent out from within the sandbox. This ensures that no test data can inadvertently impact real users or systems. As a result, resetting a password or any other account-related changes that typically require email verification must be done by contacting Health Gorilla Support.

Support for Account Management:

If you need to reset your password or require other support, please contact our support team directly. They can assist with any account management issues you may encounter within the sandbox.

Code Release Management:

New code releases will first be pushed to the sandbox before being pushed to production. This enables users to test changes in a safe environment before they are deployed to the live system, ensuring that any issues can be identified and addressed early.

Querying for Clinical Records

The Health Gorilla Sandbox provides robust capabilities for querying clinical records, allowing you to simulate realistic data retrieval scenarios:

Mock Data for Patients:

When you create a patient within the sandbox, the system will generate and return mock data for that patient. This enables you to test your application's data handling and presentation features without needing access to real patient data.

Use of CCDs:

The sandbox uses a pool of Continuity of Care Documents (CCDs) to provide realistic clinical data. When a patient is created, CCDs are randomly selected from this pool and attributed to the newly created patient. This process ensures that you have diverse and comprehensive clinical records to work with.

API and FHIR Queries:

All API methods for querying the Health Gorilla network, as well as all FHIR queries, are fully functional in the sandbox environment. This means you can test the full range of data retrieval and interoperability scenarios that your application will need to handle in production.

Utilizing the Lab Network

The Health Gorilla Sandbox also supports interactions with test laboratories, enabling the simulation of lab orders and results:

Test Laboratories:

Within the sandbox, you can place orders with test laboratories and receive mock results. This feature allows you to test your application’s ability to handle lab data without needing access to real laboratory systems.

Mock Results:

The results returned from these test laboratories are not clinically significant and are intended solely for development purposes. Use these mock results to validate your data processing and display logic in a controlled environment.

Best Practices

• Regular Testing:

  • Make use of the sandbox regularly to test new features and updates before deploying them to the live environment.

• Security:

  • Even though it's a test environment, follow best practices for security to ensure your application is robust and secure.

• Support:

  • Utilize Health Gorilla's support resources for any issues or questions. Our team is here to help you make the most of the sandbox environment.

By following these steps and guidelines, you can effectively use Health Gorilla's Sandbox Environment to develop and test your healthcare applications, ensuring they are ready for the real world. Happy developing!