The InterSystems HL7® Interface Specialist exam is designed to validate core skills for developers who use InterSystems products to build and test HL7 v2.x productions.
Exam release notes: This exam replaced the HealthShare Health Connect HL7 Interface Specialist exam on June 1, 2023.
Exam Details
Target Exam Role
An IT professional who:
- designs, builds, and performs basic troubleshooting of HL7 interfaces with InterSystems products, and
- has at least six months full-time experience in the technology.
Note: This exam does not require familiarity with ObjectScript
Recommended Preparation
- Complete available InterSystems HL7 learning content:
- At least 6 months - 1 year designing, building, and performing basic troubleshooting of HL7 interfaces with InterSystems products version 2019.1 or higher.
- Review the set of
practice questions found here.
Exam Parameters
Number of questions: 68
Exam time limit: 2.5 hours
Passing score: 68%
Language offered: English
Exam format: multiple choice and multiple response
Exam Topics and Content
The exam contains question items that cover the areas for the stated role as shown in the KSA (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities) chart immediately below.
| TOPIC/KNOWLEDGE | SECTION/SKILLS | ABILITIES |
| T1 Designs HL7 productions | T1.1 Interprets interface requirements | Determines productions and namespaces needed Determines appropriate production components and the flow of messages Determines production needs from interface specifications Determines data transformation needs Determines validation settings Designs routing rules |
| T1.2 Chooses production architecture components | Identifies basic functionality of production components Identifies adapters used by built-in HL7 components Identifies the components in a production diagram Names production components, rules, and DTLs according to conventions | |
| T1.3 Designs custom schemas | Identifies custom segments in custom schema categories Determines where sample messages deviate from schema requirements | |
| T2 Builds HL7 productions | T2.1 Adds production components to build interfaces | Adds production components to productions Imports and exports productions and their components using the deploy tool |
| T2.2 Creates and applies routing rules | Creates and interprets rule sets Accesses HL7 message contents using expression editor Identifies how constraints affect code completion in the expression editor Uses virtual property path syntax to implement rule conditions Uses virtual property syntax and utility functions to retrieve HL7 data Applies foreach actions Determines problems within routing rules | |
| T2.3 Applies key configuration settings in productions | Identifies key configuration settings in business services and operations Maps key settings to correct components Configures pool size and actor pool size settings to ensure FIFO Configures alert configuration settings Configures failure timeout setting to ensure FIFO Configures and uses credentials Identifies behavior caused by using system default settings | |
| T2.4 Uses DTL Editor to build DTLs | Configures source and target message classes Adds functions to DTL expressions Differentiates between Create New versus Create Copy settings Applies foreach actions Applies if actions Applies group actions Applies switch actions Tests DTLs | |
| T2.5 Creates custom schemas | Determines custom schema requirements Creates new custom schemas based on requirements Identifies segment characteristics from message structure | |
| T2.6 Applies ACK/NACK functionality | Selects appropriate ACK mode settings Identifies default ACK/NACK settings for business service Determines reply code actions for desired behaviors | |
| T2.7 Manages messages | Purges messages manually Purges messages automatically Ensures purge tasks are running | |
| T3 Troubleshoots HL7 productions | T3.1 Identifies and uses tools for troubleshooting | Uses production configuration page Configures Archive I/O setting Identifies the name of the central alert component Uses bad message handler Uses Jobs page, Messages page, Production Monitor page, and Queues page Identifies root cause of production problem states Tests message routing rules using testing tool |
| T3.2 Uses Visual Trace | Locates session ID of a message Interprets information displayed in Visual Trace Interprets different icons in the Visual Trace Locates information in tabs of Visual Trace Determines causes of alerts Troubleshoots production configuration problems | |
| T3.3 Uses Message Viewer | Optimizes search options Searches messages using Basic Criteria Searches messages using Extended Criteria Uses search tables in productions Resends Messages Troubleshoots display problems in Message Viewer | |
| T3.4 Uses logs for debugging | Uses Business Rule Log Uses the Event Log to examine log entries Identifies auditable events Searches the Event Log |