Go-live checklist

Do the steps in order. Repeat steps 5 to 8 for each new practice.

1. Test against a real health record system

Your demo practice is sample data. Before you go live, connect a free Open Dental demo to your demo practice and watch a write land in it. You keep using your sandbox API key.

2. Switch to production

Upgrade your account in the Developer Portal. This requires a credit card.
Use the Test mode toggle at the top right of the portal to switch to production mode.
Generate your production API key on the API Key page. The key is shown once, so save it.
Invite your team on the Users page. Click Invite User and enter their email. Only administrators see this page.

Sandbox and production calls go to the same base URL, https://nexhealth.info, with different API keys.

3. Refresh your token

A bearer token lasts 1 hour in production. Request a new one from /authenticates before it expires. Calls without a valid token return 401.

4. Set up webhooks

Register an HTTPS endpoint and check the signature on every message. See Setting up webhooks.
Subscribe to the insertion event for each resource you write. See How a write reaches the health record system.
Respond with a 2xx. NexHealth retries a failed delivery for 48 hours, then turns the endpoint off.

5. Create the practice

In production mode, open the Institutions page of the portal and click Create Institution. Enter the practice's details and choose its health record system.

The institution has a subdomain and each office has a location ID. Your calls for this practice use both. See Institutions, syncs, and locations.

Onboard a location has the full flow, including what to do when the practice already uses NexHealth.

6. Connect the health record system

This step needs someone at the practice. What they do depends on where the system runs. Check the supported systems first.

New to working with practices? Getting to know a healthcare office covers who you will talk to and what to ask.

System type	What happens	Guide
Server-based	The practice runs the NexHealth Synchronizer installer on the server that hosts the health record system and enters the product key from your portal. Ask them to allow NexHealth in their antivirus and firewall before the install.	Installing the NexHealth Synchronizer
Cloud-based	The practice creates a dedicated user in the health record system for NexHealth. You submit the system URL and that login. NexHealth sets up the sync, which can take up to 72 business hours. Most cloud systems also need the NexHealth Chrome extension on every workstation that changes the schedule.	Cloud systems installation

If the install does not finish, see Troubleshooting install failures.

7. Confirm the sync is active

The portal shows the status of each institution and sync. You can also call GET /sync_status. See Interpreting sync status.

8. Book a real appointment

Create an appointment for a test patient.
Wait for appointment_insertion.complete.
Ask the office to confirm that the appointment is on their schedule, then have them remove it.

The practice is live.

After you go live

Watch the sync. A server-based sync pauses when the office server is off. A cloud-based sync pauses when nobody is logged in to the Chrome extension and the health record system.
Know when it comes back. Subscribe to sync_status_read_change and sync_status_write_change. They fire when a sync comes back online. They do not fire when it goes down, so poll GET /sync_status for that.
Keep billing current. Usage is billed through the Billing page of the Developer Portal. If your plan bills on active locations, deactivate locations you no longer serve so you are not charged for them.
Ask for help. Email [email protected] with the name of the institution.