With our Integration Pilot well underway, we’ve got some news about its future as well as some reflections on what we’ve learnt so far.
Extending Integration Pilot for Outcomes Star Online to December 2024
To ensure we can fully trial the API endpoints and put our design decisions to the test in as many different scenarios as possible, we are extending our Integration Pilot through 2024.
This will mean organisations using the Outcomes Star Online can access and use our Partner API free of charge through 2024, to integrate with any other primary software they use.
A recap on our Partner API for Outcomes Star Online
Outcomes Star Online’s Partner API went live in April 2023, and since then we’ve had conversations with around 50 different organisations about how it can work for their practitioners, other stakeholders and of course, the people they support.
The design of our Partner API is based on these desired outcomes:
- Any and all primary software that can use APIs can use our API.
- Outcomes Stars are completed on our platform using our visual and engaging interface aligned with best Star practice.
- Data-entry and login duplication is reduced as much as possible to make life easier for practitioners.
- We support a single point of truth and easy access to key Outcomes Star data within the primary software.
We plan to continue to develop and expand our Partner API – in this initial stage, we have 3 key features available, plus Single Sign On for both Microsoft and Google (NB SSO will be launched separately for all Outcomes Star organisations in January 2024 – watch this space!):
- For more information on what is available as part of our Integration Pilot and how you can get involved, see: www.outcomesstar.org.uk/software
Summary of progress so far
With many early-stage conversations underway, we have made some exciting progress including:
- A sandbox build with a person-centred care planning software provider and a dynamic Northern Ireland-based charity
- A sandbox build with a team of developers making a custom solution for an innovative education charity
- Analysis and planning projects with a number of leading UK national charities, mostly working with their own custom software or Microsoft Dynamics platforms
We are hoping to onboard more organisations into the sandbox and link up to the Live environment in early 2024.
What’s next for Outcomes Star Online integration
Interoperability is a completely new area for our organisation, and we’re still learning about its challenges and opportunities!
For example, there are lots of questions we are still asking ourselves and looking to learn more about:
- Can we develop and maintain ‘middleware’ solutions that remove the burden of custom code on the primary software/client organisation side – for example, for ‘enterprise’ platforms like Salesforce and Dynamics, and for the bigger sector-specialist platforms that provide their own APIs?
- For UK NHS settings, should we be focusing on direct integration with individual pieces of software used in a region, or should we be focusing on Shared Care Record integration?
- Our current endpoints don’t include an individuals Star data in ‘raw data’ format (it is available in a user-friendly PDF or in aggregated data formats.) How can we provide this in a way that adds value and is usable by different primary software?
If you are working on your own interoperability opportunities and challenges, or if you have any insight or information you could share about the above, please do get in touch.