Plugin Capabilities Overview
Canvas plugins let you tailor your EHR to the way your organization practices medicine. Rather than working around a rigid system, plugins allow you to automate clinical workflows, customize the user interface, integrate with external systems, and optimize revenue cycle processes — all without modifying the core platform.
This page is a comprehensive map of what plugins can do, organized by the business problems they solve. For each capability, you’ll find a link to the relevant technical documentation if you’d like to share it with your engineering team.
Clinical Workflow Automation #
Plugins can embed clinical intelligence directly into provider workflows, reducing manual steps and ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.
Clinical Decision Support #
Surface actionable recommendations at the point of care. Plugins can evaluate patient data in real time and present clinicians with relevant alerts, reminders, and suggested actions — directly within the chart.
- Display protocol cards with condition-specific recommendations, screening reminders, or care gap alerts
- Trigger recommendations based on patient demographics, diagnoses, lab results, medications, or any combination of clinical data
- Link recommendations to one-click actions so providers can act immediately
📄 Technical reference: Protocol Cards, Events
Charting Automation #
Reduce documentation burden by auto-populating note content and streamlining common charting tasks.
- Auto-populate note sections (HPI, assessment, plan) from intake forms, previous visits, or external data
- Carry forward content from prior encounters for follow-up visits
- Create custom commands that insert structured content into notes with a single click
- Validate note content before signing to catch missing documentation
📄 Technical reference: Note Effects, Commands, Command Validation
Quality Measures and Compliance #
Automate quality measure tracking and surface compliance gaps proactively.
- Build screening protocols that remind providers when patients are due for assessments (e.g., tobacco screening, depression screening, fall risk)
- Track measure completion and surface outstanding items as protocol cards
- Automate documentation of quality measure interventions
📄 Technical reference: Protocol Cards, Events
Questionnaires and Assessments #
Create structured data collection workflows with automated scoring and follow-up.
- Define questionnaires with conditional logic and branching
- Auto-score validated instruments (PHQ-9, GAD-7, STOP-BANG, etc.)
- Trigger follow-up actions based on assessment results
- Surface questionnaires within the patient portal for pre-visit completion
📄 Technical reference: Questionnaires, Questionnaire Effects, Patient Portal Forms guide
Revenue Cycle and Billing #
Plugins can automate coding, streamline claim management, and reduce revenue leakage.
Automated Coding #
Reduce under-coding and coding errors by automatically suggesting or applying diagnosis and procedure codes.
- Auto-assign ICD-10 codes based on clinical data (e.g., BMI-based Z-codes)
- Surface HCC coding gaps from external data sources as actionable recommendations
- Annotate diagnoses with risk adjustment categories to support value-based care
📄 Technical reference: Billing Line Items, Improve HCC Coding Accuracy guide
Claim Management #
Organize and streamline the claims workflow with automation.
- Apply labels to claims for categorization and queue management
- Automate claim status transitions and follow-up actions
- Post payments and reconcile billing data programmatically
📄 Technical reference: Claim Effects, Claim Labels
Billing Line Item Automation #
Ensure accurate and complete billing by automating charge capture.
- Automatically add billing line items to notes based on services rendered
- Modify or remove line items based on business rules
- Assign CPT codes for time-based services (e.g., chronic care management)
📄 Technical reference: Billing Line Items
Patient Engagement #
Plugins can customize the patient-facing portal to improve engagement, streamline intake, and support self-service.
Patient Portal Customization #
Tailor the portal experience to your patient population and organizational workflows.
- Build custom landing pages with appointment scheduling, messaging, and health data widgets
- Add custom menu items and navigation to the portal
- Create fully custom portal applications for specialized workflows
📄 Technical reference: Patient Portal Effects, Custom Landing Page guide
Portal Forms and Questionnaires #
Collect structured data from patients before, during, or after visits.
- Surface intake forms and questionnaires within the patient portal
- Enforce form completion before appointments
- Route form responses into the clinical record automatically
📄 Technical reference: Patient Portal Forms guide, Questionnaires
Messaging Enhancements #
Extend patient-provider communication with automated messaging workflows.
- Send automated messages based on clinical events (appointment reminders, lab result notifications, follow-up instructions)
- Route incoming messages to appropriate staff or queues
- Integrate with external messaging platforms (SMS, email)
📄 Technical reference: Message Effects, Clients
User Interface Customization #
Plugins can reshape the clinician and staff experience within Canvas to match your workflows.
Chart Layout Configuration #
Control what clinicians see and how information is organized within the patient chart.
- Show, hide, or reorder sections within the patient chart
- Group related items together for faster scanning
- Tailor chart layouts based on patient characteristics (e.g., pediatric vs. adult, behavioral health vs. primary care)
📄 Technical reference: Layout Effects, Chart Group Effects, Tailoring the Chart guide
Custom Applications #
Embed rich, interactive applications directly within Canvas for specialized workflows.
- Build chart-level apps that display alongside the patient record
- Create note-level apps that support documentation workflows
- Add dashboard-level apps for population health views or operational dashboards
📄 Technical reference: Applications, Your First Application guide
Action Buttons and Modals #
Add one-click actions for common workflows and surface contextual forms when needed.
- Add action buttons to the chart panel for quick operations
- Display modal dialogs for data entry or confirmation workflows
- Customize panel buttons across the application
📄 Technical reference: Action Buttons, Customize Panel Buttons guide
Banner Alerts #
Display important notifications directly within the patient chart with configurable severity levels.
- Show informational, warning, or critical alerts at the top of the chart
- Trigger alerts based on patient data (e.g., overdue screenings, drug interactions, care gaps)
- Include actionable links within alert banners
📄 Technical reference: Banner Alerts
Data Visualization #
Present clinical data in visual formats that support faster clinical decision-making.
- Display vitals trends and growth charts within the patient chart
- Build custom visualizations for any clinical data
📄 Technical reference: Visualizing Data guide
Integrations and Data Exchange #
Plugins can connect Canvas to external systems, enabling bidirectional data flow and workflow automation.
Custom HTTP APIs #
Expose secure API endpoints from within Canvas for external systems to call.
- Build RESTful endpoints that external applications can call to read or write data
- Support authentication and authorization for secure integrations
- Enable real-time data exchange with third-party systems
📄 Technical reference: Simple API
Webhooks and Event-Driven Automation #
React to events within Canvas and trigger actions in external systems.
- Listen for clinical events (new notes, lab results, appointment changes) and call external APIs
- Push data to external systems in real time as events occur
- Build complex multi-step workflows that span Canvas and external tools
📄 Technical reference: Events, Creating Webhooks guide
Third-Party Service Integrations #
Connect to popular platforms and services directly from plugin code.
- Send SMS messages via Twilio
- Send emails via SendGrid
- Store and retrieve files from AWS S3
- Call AI/LLM APIs for clinical decision support or documentation assistance
- Integrate with any HTTP-based external service
📄 Technical reference: Clients
FHIR API #
Exchange clinical data using the healthcare industry-standard FHIR protocol.
- Read and write patient records, encounters, observations, and other clinical resources
- Integrate with health information exchanges and payer systems
- Support standard healthcare interoperability workflows
📄 Technical reference: FHIR API documentation
External Event Ingestion #
Receive and process events from external systems within Canvas.
- Ingest ADT (Admit/Discharge/Transfer) feeds from hospitals and facilities
- Process external lab results and clinical documents
- React to events from connected health devices or remote monitoring platforms
📄 Technical reference: External Events
Task and Workflow Management #
Plugins can automate task creation, assignment, and lifecycle management to keep care teams organized.
Automated Task Creation and Assignment #
Create tasks automatically based on clinical events or business rules.
- Generate follow-up tasks when specific conditions are met (e.g., abnormal lab results, missed appointments)
- Assign tasks to specific team members or roles based on configurable rules
- Include relevant context and due dates with auto-created tasks
📄 Technical reference: Task Effects, Staying on Top of Tasks guide
Task Lifecycle Management #
Track and manage tasks through their complete lifecycle.
- Update task status, priority, and assignments programmatically
- Trigger actions when tasks are completed or overdue
- Build custom task workflows that match your operational processes
📄 Technical reference: Task Effects, Task Metadata
Scheduling and Appointments #
Plugins can extend appointment workflows with custom data and integrations.
Appointment Customization #
Add custom fields, labels, and metadata to appointments.
- Attach custom data fields to appointment scheduling forms
- Apply labels for categorization and filtering
- Store and retrieve appointment-level metadata for reporting or integrations
📄 Technical reference: Appointment Labels, Appointment Metadata, Appointment Scheduling Fields guide
Calendar Integration #
Synchronize scheduling data with external calendar systems.
- Push appointment data to external calendars
- React to scheduling events to trigger preparation workflows
📄 Technical reference: Calendar Effects
What Plugins Cannot Do #
Understanding the boundaries is just as important as knowing the capabilities.
| Boundary | Details |
|---|---|
| Core UI framework | Plugins cannot replace the Canvas application shell, navigation, or core UI components. Customization happens within designated extension points. |
| Security and access controls | Plugins operate within the platform’s security model. They cannot bypass authentication, authorization, or audit logging. |
| HIPAA compliance | All plugin activity is subject to the same HIPAA compliance requirements as the core platform. Plugins cannot circumvent data protection policies. |
| Database schema | Plugins cannot modify the underlying database schema. They interact with data through well-defined APIs and data models. |
| Other plugins | Plugins are isolated from each other. One plugin cannot directly call or modify another plugin’s behavior. |
| Performance limits | Plugin execution is sandboxed with resource limits to protect platform stability. Long-running or resource-intensive operations should be offloaded to external systems. |
Next Steps #
- See real-world examples: Real-World Plugin Use Cases shows how organizations use these capabilities to solve specific business problems.
- Share with your engineering team: Each section above links to the technical documentation they’ll need to build the solution.
- Explore the SDK: The Plugin SDK documentation provides the complete technical reference.