Salesforce Certified Health Cloud Accredited Professional – Complete Winter '26 Guide

Health Cloud Data Model: Patients, Providers, and Care Plans

Health Cloud extends Salesforce for healthcare and life sciences. Key objects: Contact (Patient or Healthcare Provider), Account (Healthcare Provider Organisation), CarePlan (the patient's treatment plan), Care Plan Problem (a diagnosis or health condition), Care Plan Goal (measurable outcome), Care Plan Task (an action item). HealthcareFacility tracks provider locations. ClinicalEncounter records patient-provider interactions. The consultant designs the Health Cloud data model to match the organisation's care coordination model — whether focused on payer, provider, or life sciences workflows.

Care Plan Management and Coordination

Care Plans are the core of Health Cloud — they organise all the clinical and social determinant information for a patient. Care Plan Templates pre-define the standard problems, goals, and tasks for common conditions (diabetes management, post-surgical recovery). Care Team members are assigned roles (primary care manager, specialist, community worker) and have visibility into the plan. The consultant configures Care Plan Templates for the organisation's common care pathways and designs the Care Team structure to match the clinical care model.

Intelligent Appointment Management (IAM)

Intelligent Appointment Management (IAM) is Health Cloud's scheduling module for patient appointments. It enables patient self-scheduling via Experience Cloud portals, agent-assisted scheduling via the Health Console, and provider availability management. Slot management defines available appointment slots by provider, specialty, and location. The system matches patient needs (reason for visit, insurance, location preference) to available providers. The consultant configures IAM for the organisation's scheduling requirements — walk-in, scheduled, and telemedicine appointment types.

FHIR Integration and EHR Connectivity

Health Cloud supports HL7 FHIR R4 (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) for exchanging clinical data with Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems. Salesforce Health Cloud includes a FHIR API connector for mapping FHIR resources (Patient, Encounter, Condition, Observation) to Salesforce Health Cloud objects. Bi-directional integration enables both reading from the EHR (importing patient records, encounters) and writing back (care plan updates, appointment status). The consultant assesses the integration pattern — what data to sync, at what frequency, and how to handle data conflicts between systems.

Analytics and Population Health Management

Health Cloud analytics use CRM Analytics (Einstein Analytics) with pre-built Health Cloud datasets and dashboards. Population Health dashboards segment patients by condition, risk score, engagement level, or care gap. Risk stratification identifies high-risk patients who need proactive outreach. Care gap analysis identifies patients overdue for preventive care (annual wellness visits, screenings). Patient lists (list views of patients meeting specific criteria) drive targeted outreach campaigns. The consultant designs the analytics strategy to support value-based care performance measurement.

Health Cloud Data Model

Know the key Health Cloud objects: Patient/Member (Contact extension), Care Plan, Care Plan Problem, Care Plan Goal, Care Plan Task, and how they relate to Cases and standard objects.

Patient 360 View

Know how to configure the Patient 360: Timeline (chronological health events), Care Team (multi-disciplinary team members), Social Determinants of Health, and how providers use the console to manage patient interactions.

Care Plan Configuration

Know how to create care plan templates (problems, goals, tasks), how care coordinators assign care plans to patients, and how task completion tracking and progress notes work in the care plan workflow.

Interoperability: FHIR & HL7

Know the basics of Health Cloud's interoperability capabilities: FHIR R4 API for EHR integration, HL7 message handling, and how Health Cloud maps clinical data to Salesforce objects.

Utilization Management & Prior Auth

Know how Health Cloud supports payer use cases: prior authorization workflows, utilization management case types, and how Care Gaps drive proactive outreach for quality program management.