Test a prior authorization across the network.
Bring one supported workflow. Send a synthetic request, receive the response and check the information needed for the next step. Use the result to identify what can be reused and what still needs work.
Choose your route
Try the shared test environment. Use current developer instructions to test supported requests and responses without starting in your production systems — the Preview test environment (shn-preview.org) runs in the cloud without installing a local Gateway.
Explore the reference software. Run the local tools to understand the Gateway and integration surface in an environment your team controls.
Test with your implementation partners. Bring an existing test plan and agree where a common result can satisfy more than one connection’s requirements.
The developer resources contain the current access instructions, versions and examples.
One workflow is enough to begin
Health plans: name your implementation lead and the owner of your PA API, arrange access to the test API and run a synthetic prior authorization. The first test does not require SHN software inside your production environment.
Providers: bring your EHR or workflow technical contact. Start through a supported EHR connection, your own integration or an existing workflow partner.
HIEs and technology partners: bring one service, customer connection or workflow that can help others participate faster.
States: bring the people doing the work — Medicaid, insurance, plans, providers and technology partners — into the Action Forum and State Leaders Roundtable series. You do not have to wait until everyone can test.
Test together. Reuse the result.
Record what worked, the systems and versions involved, and the questions that remain. Share the relevant findings at an Action Forum so another team can benefit.
Readiness
Testing can begin before a production agreement. Limited production for ready medical prior-authorization workflows begins December 1; January 1 remains the medical-PA production focus. Next sessions and recaps are on the Connectathon page and the Road to January.
Synthetic data only. Do not send real patient information or production credentials. Passing a test is not production approval or CMS certification.
Last updated: October 2026