Seamless HL7 Integration in Healthcare: StarBoost’s MuleSoft Success Story

Client Background

StarBoost is a healthcare engagement program designed to help patients complete Medicare-recommended diagnostic tests. By simplifying coordination between patients, laboratories, health plans, and providers, StarBoost accelerates the diagnostic process and ensures timely, connected care.

Business Objectives

StarBoost set out to modernize and automate its lab results management process to enhance care delivery and operational efficiency. Specifically, the organization partnered with Softsquare to:

• Automate lab result processing: Replace manual result entry and phone-based follow-ups with a fully automated integration pipeline.
• Accelerate care response times: Deliver validated lab reports into Salesforce in near real time for immediate care team action.
• Ensure standardized clinical data: Normalize incoming HL7 (Health Level Seven) lab reports for accurate interpretation, reporting, and analytics.
• Strengthen security and compliance: Meet Labcorp’s allow-listing requirements with static egress IPs, secure authentication, and encrypted communication.
• Maintain HIPAA compliance: Store all validated lab data securely in Salesforce, ensuring adherence to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
• Support scalability and reliability: Implement a robust, API-led architecture that can handle growing test volumes and partner integrations without manual overhead.

Solution Overview

To achieve these objectives, Softsquare designed and implemented a MuleSoft-based API-led integration to automate the retrieval, validation, and normalization of HL7 lab reports from Labcorp. The solution emphasized reliability, security, and clinical data usability across the end-to-end process.

• Automated HL7 Integration via MuleSoft:
  Developed an API-led MuleSoft flow to automatically retrieve HL7 lab report files from Labcorp’s SFTP server as soon as they are available. The system validates, parses, and routes results directly into Salesforce—eliminating manual downloads and data entry.
• Secure Static IP Egress and Authentication:
  Configured MuleSoft’s static outbound IP feature to comply with Labcorp’s network requirements. This allowed Labcorp to allow-list StarBoost’s endpoint once, maintaining a stable, predictable, and compliant network connection. All data exchanges are authenticated and encrypted to ensure data security and integrity.
• Standardized Data Normalization and Mapping:
  Implemented advanced data mapping logic to align test codes and units with LOINC (Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes) standards, ensuring consistent abnormal flag interpretation and clean, comparable results for downstream systems.
• Proactive Error Monitoring and Alerting:
  Added automated error handling and notifications to detect missing, malformed, or invalid HL7 files. Detailed alerts with correlation IDs and diagnostics enable quick resolution and uninterrupted patient engagement.
• Seamless Salesforce Integration:
  Validated lab results are automatically delivered into Salesforce, empowering care coordinators to manage outreach and follow-ups directly within the CRM.

Results & Impact

The integration empowered StarBoost to enhance operational efficiency, data accuracy, and patient responsiveness:

• Automated end-to-end workflow: Lab reports are now retrieved, validated, and processed without manual effort.
• Accelerated patient engagement: Results appear in Salesforce in near real time, enabling timely care coordination.
• Secure and compliant data management: Data exchanges use encrypted, authenticated connections, and all lab data is stored in Salesforce in full compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
• Improved data quality and scalability: Standardized, LOINC-aligned data ensures consistent accuracy and supports ongoing program expansion.