Integration Testing


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Integration Testing

  

Integration Testing is the phase in software testing in which individual software modules are combined and tested as a group.  It occurs after application (unit) testing.  This is where the testing meets real life patient care as integration testing uses patient scenarios.    Bringing these teams together in one room is helpful to discuss progress and issues.  It is also an excellent time to involve more users in the project and to test on a variety of devices that will be used for go live.

 

Testing should be done in as many scenarios as are required to flex the different clinical scenarios.  For a very limited role out of CPOE in pilot only, perhaps this could be covered with less than ten scenarios.  Most CPOE implementations will require many more. 

 

Options to consider when selecting your integration test scripts:

 

Each test step should have a step to be performed followed by an expected result.  Document the actual outcome of the test against the expected result and document any differences.  Some basic expected results to be tested are:

 

Issues should be documented as you go.  Fixes or configuration changes in response to testing should be re-tested against the expect result as soon as possible.

 

Additional items to document during testing

 

For CPOE, the most important goal of integration testing is to assure that the medication safety loop is intact.  There should be many cycles to test: