The information system or wellbeing application supplier registers themselves for joint testing with the registration form or, in Kanta PHR, with an application for the client test service.
In connection with the registration, the system supplier shall report the preliminary test cases, the number of which varies according to the contents that are to undergo joint testing.
THL’s system form or the Kanta PHR form of key requirements must also be attached to the registration. In addition, the architecture description must also be provided, if requested.
With the preliminary test cases, the Kanta Services controls that the implementation of a system entering joint testing is “ripe” for joint testing. The Kanta Services verifies the preliminary test cases, and if no significant errors are found in the preliminary test cases, it is possible to move on to joint testing.
Testing phases
Joint testing has three testing phases:
- testing between the information system supplier and Kela
- testing between the client organisation and Kela
- cross-testing.
In all joint testing, the system supplier carries out the testing between the information system supplier and Kela. In more extensive joint testing, all three testing phases are carried out.
The joint testing contents of different Kanta services and their phases are described in the Contents of joint testing page.
If all three testing phases are carried out in joint testing, the testing will progress from one phase to another so that the testing between the information system supplier and Kela is carried out and accepted first, after which it is possible to move on to testing between the client organisation and Kela. Cross-testing is the last phase of testing to be carried out. In the inspection meetings organised by the Kanta Services, the progress of testing is monitored and it is assessed whether it is possible to move to the next testing phase.
Partners workspace in joint testing
The Partners page is the workspace in joint testing. Every system supplier has its own Partners workspace in each service, and only the representatives of the system supplier in question as well as the representatives of their client organisations have access to this workspace.
The Partners workspace is the principal communications channel between the system supplier, its client organisation and the Kanta Services during joint testing. The test cases are also reported in the Partners workspace.
The workspace of each system includes
- the test IDs used in joint testing
- the test cases of joint testing
- the testing situation
- inspection observations.
Furthermore, the Kanta Services also records a registration form, system form and other documents related to joint testing in the workspace of each system supplier.
Testing between the information system supplier and Kela
The functioning between the information system to be connected to the Kanta services and the Kanta services is examined in testing between the information system supplier and Kela. Particular attention is paid to recorded messages and their structure.
As a rule, this testing phase is carried out from the system or application supplier’s own test environment, which is in contact with the client test environment in the Kanta services.
However, if systems from several different suppliers take part in the implementation of a functionality, the test environment of the client organisation may be the only test environment where the joint testing can be performed. This kind of a situation may arise when testing, for example, information system entities that consist of modules or the Archive of Imaging Data. Further information is available in the section Requirements for the client’s test environments.
The system supplier performs and reports the test cases into the Partners workspace. If the Kanta Services notices errors in the test cases, the system supplier shall correct them and prove the functioning of the correction with a retest.
The Kanta Services
- checks the reported test cases
- records any findings and observations
- accepts the test cases.
The testing phase can be accepted when all test cases have been carried out and accepted. If the joint testing does not include other testing phases, the Kanta Services shall issue a joint testing statement with appendices to the system supplier and send the information about accepted performance of the joint testing to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Traficom and Valvira.
Testing between the client organisation and Kela
In the testing between the client organisation and Kela, the service functionalities and data contents are examined more extensively than in the testing phase between the system supplier and Kela. The purpose of testing is to verify the functioning between the information system and the Kanta Services when used by the client organisation in the same way as in production use.
The test cases imitate the operational processes of the social welfare and healthcare services, and they normally include the event chains related to the recording and retrieval of the tested contents. The test cases do not aim to model the entries made in the client or patient data system or the healthcare workflows in their entirety. Work stages that have no impact on the Kanta Services have been omitted from them.
Testing takes place in the test environment of the system supplier’s client organisation, which is in contact with the client test environment of the Kanta Services.
The Kanta Services supports only one client testing per each information system. One client organisation or an entity of several client organisations may be included in the testing.
The client organisation carries out and reports the test cases into the Partners workspace. If any errors are detected in them, the system supplier shall correct them and deliver the required updates to the test environment of the client organisation. After that, the functioning of the corrections is proved with retesting.
It is the task of the information system supplier to provide support to its client organisation in the joint testing.
The system supplier
- ensures with its client organisation that there is a compliant test environment available and provides the necessary updates for the environment
- advises the testers of its client organisation to use the information system functionalities included in the testing
- specifies the implementation and reporting guidelines of the test cases for joint testing to the testers of its client organisation, when necessary
- provides assistance to the main users of its client organisation in the configuration of the test environment
- reserves a sufficient amount of resources for support during joint testing, such as investigating error and problem situations and taking part in inspection meetings.
The Kanta Services
- checks the reported test cases
- records any findings and observations
- accepts the test cases.
The test phase can be accepted when
- the information system supplier has corrected the errors detected in testing and delivered the corrections to the client organisation’s test environment
- the client organisation has corrected any deficiencies related to its own test environment
- all test cases have passed the test
- the client organisation has issued a joint testing report for the Kanta Services.
Cross-testing
The purpose of cross-testing is to ensure that the documents archived in the Kanta Services are interoperable between various information systems. The client organisations of system suppliers cross-test the test cases in the client organisation’s test environment, which is in contact with the client test environment of the Kanta Services.
The information system suppliers of both parties take part in the cross-testing. Their task is to provide support for the client organisation in the testing process. Further information about the support provided by the information system supplier to its client organisation is available in sections Testing between the client organisation and Kela and Information system supplier’s roles and responsibilities. In some situations, the system suppliers can carry out cross-testing also without the client organisation.
Cross-testing can also be arranged between information systems, of which
- one information system is being cross-tested and the other is an information system that has previously undergone joint testing, has a conformity certificate and is in production use
- both information systems are in joint testing and neither is used in production yet.
If the system is being used in production, by law it must take part in joint testing in order to be able to ensure the interoperability between the information systems (Section 86 of the Client Data Act (finlex.fi, in Finnish)). The Kanta Services decides which information systems must take part in cross-testing. The system suppliers shall bear the costs arising from the testing.
The Kanta Services
- checks the reported test cases
- records any findings and observations
- accepts the test cases.
The testing phase can be accepted when all test cases have been carried out and accepted. At the end of the joint testing, the Kanta Services shall issue a joint testing statement with appendices to the system supplier that has undergone joint testing and send the information about accepted performance of the joint testing to the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Traficom, Valvira and information security inspection body.