EMR and system integration
EMR integration for clinics: the complete guide
How a clinic connects its EMR to intake, forms, phones, faxes, labs and a CRM: the five ways to integrate, what each EMR exposes, and what to ask a vendor.
Read the guideResources EMR and system integration
How third-party systems connect to OSCAR Pro and the OSCAR family: the REST and SOAP web services, how access is granted, and what hosting must enable.
The short version
OSCAR EMR started as an open-source project at McMaster University and became one of the most widely used EMRs in Canadian primary care. Several editions have grown from it. OSCAR Pro is the commercial edition supported by WELL Health; other distributions are maintained by other groups. They share a common foundation, which is why integration patterns are similar across them, and they differ in version and configuration, which is why the details have to be confirmed clinic by clinic.
OSCAR exposes its records through web services served from the EMR itself. Two families matter for integration.
OSCAR web services at a glance
| Detail | REST services | SOAP services |
|---|---|---|
| Typical records | Patient demographics, schedule, prescriptions, documents, labs, ticklers, forms | Demographics, scheduling and booking, allergies, preventions, measurements, prescriptions, documents, lab upload |
| Access | OAuth client registered by the clinic's administrator, then authorized by a user | Service credentials issued by the EMR |
| Best suited to | Modern integrations reading and writing specific records | Established interfaces, and lab results where only SOAP is offered |
OSCAR also supports eForms, which many clinics use for intake and questionnaires, and receives lab results and hospital reports through the provincial feeds where the clinic is set up for them.
For REST integrations, the clinic's OSCAR administrator registers the integration as a client in OSCAR's REST client management screen, which issues its credentials. A user at the clinic then authorizes the connection. On hosted editions, including most OSCAR Pro clinics, the hosting provider usually has to enable the web services first. Plan for that step: it is the most common reason an OSCAR integration waits.
OSCAR clinics often already run add-ons for online booking, forms or messaging. An orchestration layer complements them: it connects to OSCAR once and conducts the work between OSCAR, the phone line, the fax line, intake and assessment data, with one set of rules and one audit trail. See our EMR integration guide for the broader picture.
Yes. The OSCAR family exposes REST and SOAP web services. REST clients are registered by the clinic's administrator and authorized by a user. On hosted editions, the hosting provider usually has to enable the services.
OSCAR Pro is a commercial edition of OSCAR, supported by WELL Health. It shares its foundation with other OSCAR distributions, which differ in version and configuration.
Yes. Clinic Conductor is live in production with OSCAR Pro.
Sources
See it running
Clinic Conductor reads, files and escalates documents into OSCAR Pro, live in production.
EMR and system integration
How a clinic connects its EMR to intake, forms, phones, faxes, labs and a CRM: the five ways to integrate, what each EMR exposes, and what to ask a vendor.
Read the guideEMR and system integration
The standards that move health information between systems, in plain terms: HL7 v2 messages, FHIR R4 resources, and the pan-Canadian specifications built on them.
Read the guideInside Clinic Conductor
Referrals, results and requisitions still arrive by fax. How fax automation reads each page, files it against the right patient, and escalates what cannot wait.
Read the guide