Preparing for Software Testing: 8 Best Practices for Health Plans 

When a health plan undertakes a major technology change, whether implementing a new platform, modernizing a legacy system, or rolling out new functionality, the promise is compelling: streamlined workflows, greater automation, and more time for teams to focus on strategic priorities.

Before those benefits can be realized, however, there is a critical step that determines whether the transition succeeds or struggles: User Acceptance Testing (UAT).

For many health plans, UAT is unfamiliar territory. Others may not have gone through a large-scale testing effort in years. In either case, preparation is key. This article draws on the experiences of the HealthEdge® Global Professional Services testing team to deliver eight best practices that help payers prepare for a successful testing engagement and a smoother go-live.

What Is User Acceptance Testing (UAT)?

UAT is the final phase of the software testing process. It’s where business users (not technical teams) validate that the system meets business requirements and is ready for day-to-day operations in a production environment.

It is not about proving the software works technically. It’s about confirming that the solution supports real-world workflows, produces accurate and compliant outcomes, and enables users to do their jobs effectively.

Why UAT Matters for Health Plans

UAT plays a critical role in reducing risk during major technology changes, enabling health plans to:

• Confirm that business requirements are met
• Validate end-to-end workflows across teams and systems
• Identify gaps missed in earlier testing phases
• Reduce the likelihood of costly post–go-live issues
• Support compliance and audit readiness
• Build user confidence and encourage adoption

Most importantly, UAT provides health plans with one final opportunity to ensure readiness before the new system goes live.

The Health Plan’s Role in the Testing Process

While every software development is unique, users play a central role in ensuring the solution works as intended in real-world use. In most testing engagements, the health plan’s responsibilities include:

• User Acceptance Testing: Leading business validation to confirm the system supports operational needs
• Providing Test Data and Access: Supplying realistic data and user credentials for testing
• Business Requirements Validation: Confirming that configured workflows align with business expectations
• Final Sign-Off: Approving the solution for production following successful UAT

Although users are most active during UAT, effective testing starts much earlier. Early involvement during definition of requirements, design, test planning, and data preparation significantly improves UAT outcomes.

8 Leadership Decisions That Set the Stage for a Successful Technology Change

Major technology implementations are rarely derailed by software issues alone. More often, challenges arise when organizations underestimate the preparation required to validate new ways of working before go-live.

Successful testing is not accidental. It is the result of deliberate leadership decisions made well before UAT begins. Leaders who approach testing as a strategic business exercise, rather than a technical checkpoint, put their organizations in a far stronger position to realize value from their investment.

The following eight practices represent the most important actions leaders can take to ensure testing supports a smooth transition, confident users, and long-term success.

1. Understand the Purpose of UAT

Testing is not about finding every possible defect. The goal of UAT is to ensure the system will support your business operations once real users depend on it.

During UAT, business leaders and users should be asking:

• Can users do their jobs effectively in the new system?
• Do core processes work from start to finish?
• Are outcomes accurate, compliant, and usable?
• Is the system intuitive for different user roles?

Keeping this purpose in focus helps teams prioritize what truly matters.

2. Involve the Right People Early

The people validating the system should be the people who will use it, not just technical resources or project team members.

Health plans should consider involving:

• Frontline users who understand day-to-day work
• Subject matter experts familiar with exceptions and edge cases
• Supervisors or leads who understand downstream impacts
• Compliance, audit, or quality representatives
• Data owners
• Business UAT Lead

These stakeholders should be engaged early, during requirements definition, test planning, and data preparation, not only during UAT execution.

3. Protect Time for User Acceptance Testing

One of the most common challenges in UAT is underestimating the time it takes. When testing is treated as an “extra” task layered onto daily responsibilities, quality suffers.

Best practices include:

• Allocating dedicated time for UAT participants
• Reducing or temporarily backfilling day-to-day responsibilities
• Setting realistic timelines for testing and retesting
• Treating UAT as a priority business activity

Strong UAT requires an upfront time investment—but that investment pays off through smoother go-lives and fewer post-production fixes.

4. Prepare Realistic Scenarios

Effective testing goes beyond validating individual system functions. UAT should test scenarios inspired by users’ daily workflows. For example, rather than only validating a single calculation or rule, an end-to-end scenario might include logging in, accessing a member, completing an assessment, creating a care plan, and triggering follow-up tasks.

Prioritize scenarios that are:

• High-volume or frequently used
• High-risk from a compliance or financial perspective
• Critical to member or provider satisfaction

These scenarios provide the most meaningful validation of system readiness.

5. Ensure Data and Configuration Are Ready

UAT is only as effective as the data supporting it. Health plans should ensure test data is realistic, complete, and accurately configured before testing begins.

This typically includes:

• Member demographics and eligibility
• Provider and program information
• Role permissions and workflow configurations
• Negative and edge-case data (such as members with no eligibility or incomplete documentation)

Poor or incomplete data can delay timelines, mask defects, and undermine confidence in testing results.

6. Train Users for UAT—But Don’t Turn It Into Full-Scale Training

Users don’t need to be system experts to test effectively, but they do need enough familiarity to execute workflows and recognize whether outcomes are correct.

Before UAT begins, ensure users can:

• Understand the business processes they are testing
• Navigate the system for their role
• Enter, edit, and validate data
• Follow test scripts and document results

Many organizations find that walking through test scenarios provides valuable hands-on learning without turning UAT into full-scale training.

7. Set Clear Expectations for Issue Management

Clear guidelines for logging, prioritizing, and resolving issues are essential to keeping testing on track.

Teams should align on:

• What constitutes a critical issue versus a minor one
• How and where issues are logged
• Who determines whether an issue must be resolved before go-live
• Communication and escalation paths

Without clear issue management processes, testing can stall, defects may be missed, and go-live decisions become more difficult.

8. Don’t Rush—or Skip—User Acceptance Testing

UAT is the only phase where real business users validate that the system supports their workflows, rules, and daily operations.

When UAT is rushed or skipped, organizations face significant risks, including:

• Untested critical workflows
• Higher likelihood of production defects
• Increased project costs
• Compliance and operational disruptions

Taking the time to complete UAT thoroughly helps protect both the organization and the users who rely on the system.

Reducing Risk and Realizing Value Faster

UAT is one of the most important milestones in any major technology change. While it’s easy to get caught up in individual defects or system nuances, the real purpose of UAT is far more strategic: to confirm that the organization is ready to operate with confidence in the new environment.

When UAT is done well, health plans gain assurance that core business processes function as intended, users can perform their roles effectively, and financial and compliance outcomes are accurate. Most importantly, it provides leadership with the confidence that the organization is prepared—not just to go live, but to succeed once the system is in production.

HealthEdge: Your Partner in Testing Success

Health plans don’t have to navigate this process alone. Experienced software and services partners like HealthEdge bring proven frameworks and expertise to guide health plans through all phases of testing, from data preparation and scenario design to execution, automation, and issue management.

Engaging the right partner early in the process helps reduce risk, accelerate readiness, and ensure that testing supports a smooth transition and long-term value from the technology investment.

See how our Global Professional Services team partners with health plans to plan, execute, and optimize testing engagements, helping teams go live with confidence and realize value faster. Read the first article in our Software Testing series, “Software Testing Essentials: Why It Matters for Health Plans and How HealthEdge® Makes It Easier.”