Welcome back to Tarpon Health's Automation Lifecycle series. We're sharing best practices for developing Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) automations. This guide covers the Test phase, the fourth stage of the Automation Lifecycle.
Testing confirms your automation works as expected. Never push an automation into production without adequate testing. You need to verify the automation runs error-free and meets business needs. Testing also identifies inefficiencies that reduce long-term maintenance costs.
Understanding the Five Testing Levels
The Test phase includes five levels. Each one builds on the previous to move your automation from development to production.
Unit Testing
Unit Testing examines individual units of code. This is your most basic level. It ensures each unit works correctly on its own.
Integration Testing
Integration Testing examines how different units of code and applications interact. Testing these connections ensures your automation solution works as a whole.
User Acceptance Testing
User Acceptance Testing verifies the accuracy of your automation solution with actual users. This ensures the automation meets business needs.
End-to-End Testing
End-to-End Testing evaluates your automation solution in its entirety. Run this in a testing environment when possible.
Operational Testing
Operational Testing monitors the automation in production. You make adjustments until the automation runs error-free.
Who Tests What
You need the right people involved at each stage. Here's who participates in each testing phase:
Established thresholds must be met before moving from phase to phase. User Acceptance Testing and End-to-End Testing require formal sign-off.
How to Test Your Automation
The testing phases overlap and iterate naturally. But testing generally follows this order.
Start With Unit Testing
Complete Unit Testing throughout the build phase and at the end. Use peer-to-peer exercises where one developer reviews another's work. A senior developer or manager should check junior developer work when resources allow.
Move to Integration Testing
Begin by identifying the modules, processes, and systems that must work together. Test each connection to verify components interact correctly. For example, confirm files transfer to the right location on time via secure file transfer protocol (sFTP).
Conduct User Acceptance Testing
Identify the business process owners impacted by the automation. These individuals grade the accuracy of automation outputs. Build a plan that includes a wide range of account types and scenarios.
Run End-to-End Testing
Once User Acceptance Testing is complete, use a testing environment to run the automation from start to finish. The automation must run on the designated schedule with as much volume as possible. Confirm the automation runs without manual intervention, captures the right volume, and produces anticipated results.
Deploy With Operational Testing
Review security protocols and system environment differences before making final adjustments. Inform business process owners before moving the automation into production. Watch the automation closely as it runs in production. Make changes in concert with management.
Note: production deployment happens during this phase.
Best Practices from Our Community
Each automation presents unique challenges. Volume, integration touchpoints, and outcomes vary. Here are best practices from the Tarpon community to guide your testing plan.
Use testing or staging environments whenever possible.
Document your testing process in detail. Transparency into test cases, stakeholders, results, and process eliminates finger-pointing if the automation doesn't perform as expected.
Create a comprehensive set of test cases. Identify all inputs and outputs of a process. Take your time. Organizations commonly find this the most challenging aspect of testing.
Monitor the automation closely for one to two weeks after production deployment.
Deploy early in the week. Never on Thursday or Friday.
Moving Forward
The Test phase is critical in the Automation Lifecycle. These five testing levels ensure your automations are ready for production, run error-free, and meet business needs. Build a testing process that involves various stakeholders and scenarios. This establishes trust in the automation. With thorough testing, your organization can be confident the automation will run as intended and generate desired results.
