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The Vim Canvas™️ Developer Platform ​

Vim is the middleware platform for healthcare. Vim Canvas™️ is a self-service platform that empowers application developers to embed their application into Electronic Health Record (EHR) workflows, resulting in a streamlined and low-friction experience for end users. With Vim, you can deploy your applications on top of Vim Connect - Vim's in-EHR connectivity layer - accelerating time to market at reduced cost and improved flexibility. You can leverage Vim's platform to engage with a growing network of 2,000+ provider organizations and 8M+ patients.

Vim Canvas™️ benefits ​

  • Vim Canvas™️ is your complete toolkit for seamless healthcare integration with EHRs, an otherwise tedious and challenging process. Vim offers a Javascript SDK (VimOS.js) designed to streamline the process of bringing your healthcare applications to the point of care.
  • With Vim, you can build once and deploy everywhere, allowing you to focus your time on innovation. Gain land-and-expand access to the Vim Network (multiple EHRs, clinics, states, users, content) all digitally connected on the trusted and proven Vim Connect platform. Leverage Vim’s ever-expanding in-EHR intelligent workflows that are applicable and operate in the same way on any EHR, without modifications required from the app developer.
  • Test your app on the Vim Sandbox EHR and simulator tools with ease and without challenges typically associated with integrated applications. Ensure an optimal user experience before going live.
  • Bring your compliant application into Vim’s secure, SOC 2, HITRUST CSF, and HIPAA environment (see more here). Take advantage of reliable maintenance of updates and patches, and trust Vim to ensure continued ease of use for users including improvements, bug fixes, and security updates.

Getting started ​

High-Level steps to success ​

  • Step 1: set up your Vim account.
  • Step 2: set up your application manifest through an easy-to-use interface.
  • Step 3: build and test VimOs.js to trigger your intended workflows and actions in the EHR.
  • Step 4: publish your application.

Application set-up double click ​

  • If you don’t have a Vim Canvas™️ developer account yet, register here to gain access.
  • To integrate your application into Vim, the first step is to create your application project in the App Developer Console:
    1. To create your application, navigate to the Applications tab (if you can’t locate the tab, please contact us).
    2. Click on create new application.
    3. You will access and complete your application manifest.
    4. Vim Console is the self-service portal that enables customers and partners to develop and deploy applications, manage user access/permissions, and more.
  • Your application will appear in the Vim Hub, a user-friendly widget overlay on the EHR, available to connected users. The Vim Hub adapts to your application needs. Using the manifest, you can decide to program your application to expand on a specific state, change your application activation status, show a badge notification counter, push notifications, and much more. This allows you to boost your application engagement and awareness among users by creating a seamless, visual, consistent, and interactive user experience in the EHR.

Vim’s key capabilities ​

  • The Vim OS platform enables communication with EHRs by identifying, reading, and sharing context, data, and entities from the EHR such as a patient in context, an open encounter, and an order/referral being opened.
  • Certain data elements can also be written/updated back to the EHR, such as adding diagnosis or procedure codes to an encounter, updating a target referral, and more.
  • Learn more about this functionality in the Vim Connectivity and Vim Connectivity write-back guides.
Vim Connect flow
Vim Developer Platform Ecosystem

VimOS.js ​

VimOS.js and Connectivity into Vim Canvas™️ ​

  • VimOS.js is compatible with TypeScript and JavaScript, offering flexibility in your development environment. Our SDK provides the tools you need to seamlessly integrate into Vim’s core platform (EHR adapter layer), and as a result, into Vim-supported EHRs.
  • If you want to enhance EHR workflow integration through your applications leveraging an engaged and intuitive UI experience, you've come to the right place.

You can learn more about VimOS.js here.

EHR compatibility ​

  • Current state: Vim Canvas™️ scales across EHRs through a flexible and modular integration architecture. Current EHR deployment is highlighted below for notable EHRs.

    • Athenahealth
    • DrChrono
    • eClinicalWorks (eCW) versions 11.52 and above (including web, desktop and plugin access)
    • Elation
    • NextGen Enterprise
    • Office Ally EHR 24/7
    • Practice Fusion
    • TouchWorks
    • ...and more!

  • Roadmap approach: New EHRs are added regularly in coordination with our customers and partners, and based on market demand. Vim is always committed to exponential EHR diversification. We are making big bets on EHRs our customers and the market need, and are actively prioritizing our development sprints. This list below represents EHRs that are in work or testing:

    • MDland
    • Greenway

If you have any questions on specific EHR readiness, including those not listed here, please contact us.

Platforms and browsers compability ​

  • Web Browsers and Computer OS':
    • Chrome (Windows, Mac and Linux OS)
    • Edge (Windows, Mac and Linux OS)
  • Desktop Software:
    • Windows only
    • Web plugin (for eCW plugin mode)
  • iPads and Mobile Devices:
    • Not supported

Terminology ​

1. Sandbox EHR ​

Sandbox EHR: Vim-owned simulation (mock EHR) of a generic EHR environment replicating real EHR workflows. Vim’s sandbox EHR allows you to test your customer-facing application prior to submitting it for review as well as after when working on new features to add to your application. You can replicate real life EHR scenarios and experience as a real EHR user to:

  • Understand the real EHR workflow, and how your application can integrate. Use the sandbox EHR to see how EHRs look and feel. Even though each EHR can be different, our technology interacts with a standard adapter layer working cross all supported EHRs so you can “build once, deploy everywhere.”

  • Use it for demos, marketing or sales materials to showcase your integrated application to the world.

2. Vim Connect ​

Vim Connect: Vim Connect is the technology that powers the Vim Hub and your Vim Canvas™️ application to display as an overlay on top of the EHR. It communicates with varying workflows within the EHR. Vim Connect is the easiest, fastest, and most scalable way to deploy applications, enhance the provider experience, and create two-way data exchange between Vim Canvas™️ applications, payers, MSOs, healthcare innovators, and providers at the point of patient care. Vim Connect can be installed by provider organization users by MSI (generic Microsoft framework to securely install software on Windows based computers) or direct download from Chrome extension store for Mac computers. Vim Connect can be manually and individually installed by provider organizer users on their individual computer level (with MSI or direct Chrome download) or trough a mass clinic / remote deployment level via GPO or other similar tools that the clinic organization uses. A third alternative option is a native integration with a Vim <> EHR direct partnership where Vim Connect is natively integrated and available as part of the EHR code base.

3. Vim Hub ​

Vim Hub: UI layer that allows application developers to create their provider-facing experience. Vim Hub allows for increased engagement/adoption for providers as compared to a direct application <> EHR integration which typically require providers to proactively access the application (e.g. no push notifications, no enable/disable state, no notification badges, no patient headers, no auto expand etc.).

4. Vim Canvas™️ application ​

Vim Canvas™️ application: The platform that enables application developers to leverage the Vim OS SDK within your applications to develop, test, deploy, and maintain solutions and services on top of Vim’s Platform directly to EHRs. Your actual “Vim Canvas™️ application” is hosted by Vim on the Vim Hub layer on an iframe that you fully own. The iframe URL is what you have set on the application manifest on console and this is what end users will see when accessing your application. The Vim Canvas™️ application will display in several locations:

  • On the installed applications list on the organization and user level in your Console. This is where Vim console admin users can login and add/remove the application for their Vim Connect organization users.

  • On the Vim Hub overlay that displays for Vim Connect users logged into their EHRs. Your application will display as a dedicated iframe with your icon available as an entry point to open your application iframe on the Vim Hub sidecar.

Vim Console ​

Vim Console: This is the self-service portal that allow you to create, manage and edit your Vim Canvas™️ application. Every Vim Canvas™️ application must have and define its manifest. The application manifest tells the Vim Platform what it need to know, to properly run the application. It include the basics like the application name, and also items like permissions your application requires and more (more details here).

From the Vim Console, as an application developer, you will also see the full list of provider organizations and Vim Connect users that have your application installed. Provider organizations also have access to their own account in the Vim Console and manage their own organization settings and Vim Connect users.

Learn more ​