Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Last updated on August 16, 2019

Health Information Exchange Systems

 

What happens if an amendment is made to the conformance standards that a vendor can’t or doesn’t want to comply with?

The Province reserves the right to amend the Conformance Standards from time to time during the term of this Agreement in its discretion. The Province will provide the vendor with written notice of such amendment, and the date upon which it becomes effective in advance of the amendment’s effective date. In the event that the vendor does not agree to an amendment to the Conformance Standards made by the Province under this Section, the vendor must promptly deliver notice to the Province terminating this Agreement pursuant to Section 9.2, and any such termination by the vendor must be effective no later than the effective date of the amendment to the Conformance Standards that the vendor does not agree to.

 

What does a vendor need to do when they have made a major modification to the functionality of their application (excluding bug fixes, deficiencies, etc.)?

When an application has previously passed a conformance evaluation and is subsequently changed, the vendor will not provide, license or otherwise make such applications available to a customer unless the vendor has notified the Province, and the Province has approved the changes. 

Prior to providing any such approval the Province, at its discretion: (a) may require that the vendor provide further information respecting the nature of the changes to the updated application, or (b) may require that the updated application undergo an additional conformance evaluation.

 

What happens if a vendor fails a conformance test?

The Province will determine what criteria to test during a conformance evaluation. If the Province determines that the application does not meet the criteria (“Non-Conformance”), the Province will notify the vendor of such Non-Conformance and will provide the vendor with any information available with respect to the decision. 

The Province, at its discretion, may do any of the following with respect to Non-Conformance: (a) schedule another date and time for further Conformance Testing; the vendor will use its best efforts to promptly correct all Non-Conformance issues identified by the Province prior any such further Conformance Testing of the application; or (b) notify the vendor that the application has failed Conformance Evaluation, in which case the Conformance Evaluation process will end. Subject to any limitations imposed by the Province respecting how often an application may be submitted for evaluation, the vendor may resubmit the application for evaluation after correcting all Non-Conformance issues.

 

If a vendor has an integration access form from a few years ago, can they use the same one for a new integration request?

The most current version of the form must always be used; an older version will not be valid for a new integration request. The most up-to-date version of the form can be found here.

 

Who do I contact to get support for Ministry of Health systems?

Typically, a client will initiate a support call through their software provider. However, if a situation arises where a client needs to make a call directly, they have the ability to do so.
Please refer to the User Support page for Ministry system contact information.