InReach LMS and CE Tracker Integration

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT | Recorded: 2025-12-19 | Verify against current system state

Abstract¶

This session provides a comprehensive overview of InReach, AANP's Learning Management System (LMS) that handles CE credits for nurse practitioners. Jeff covers the CE Center (member-facing portal), CE Tracker (credit consolidation), and integration with the AANP Certification Board. The session explains the custom SSO architecture, conference evaluation sync process, PayPal Payflow Pro payment gateway integration, and multiple GitHub repositories supporting the platform. Key considerations for LMS vendor replacement and CE data migration are also discussed.

Key Procedures¶

InReach Overview¶

• InReach is AANP's current LMS for managing continuing education credits
• Nurse practitioners require CE credits every 5-7 years for certification renewal
• AANP-CB (Certification Board) is now a separate entity from AANP - uses previous name "American Academy of Nurse Practitioners"
• InReach is local to Austin, TX - close relationship with AANP headquarters
• Replacement vendors under consideration: Ethos or Maple LMS (internal discussion only)
• InReach support hours: 8 AM - 5 PM Monday-Friday; first-level member support provided by InReach

Integration Methods¶

• Custom SSO (not SAML or OAuth) - custom authentication built specifically for AANP
• REST APIs and Windows services available
• Many APIs were built specifically for AANP as one of InReach's first clients
• Platform owned by Education team (Jenny Lee), not IT
• IT role: maintain integrations, SSO, APIs, and sync processes

CE Credit Sources¶

1. InReach online courses
2. Conference sessions (via eval.aanp.org evaluation completion)
3. External CE activity uploads (member-submitted with PDF documentation)

Payment Processing¶

• InReach uses AANP's PayPal Payflow Pro as gateway (SDK/API)
• Braintree is the actual processor that handles bank transactions
• PayPal Payflow Pro deprecation does NOT affect AANP - only affects direct processing, not gateway usage
• Jenny performs monthly PayPal reconciliation

Notable Statements¶

• 0:01:34 "InReach is the vendor that we use for the CE Center and the CE Tracker, which is part of the education process. They are local to Austin."
• 0:02:15 "For InReach, our integration methods are custom SSO. It's not a SAML integration. It's not an OAuth integration, it is custom."
• 0:02:38 "A lot of these APIs and services were built for AANP. So they have other clients, but we were one of their first ones."
• 0:08:06 "When we went to InReach, we actually did an import of previous data into their system for CE Tracker purposes."
• 0:14:05 "This is a very popular benefit of being a member - being able to pass this information over to the certification board without having to do anything."
• 0:16:47 "The platform is completely owned by the education team, not IT. We do not usually work in this platform. Jenny Lee and her team have it very well covered."
• 0:17:55 "InReach uses AANP's PayPal Payflow Pro integration... We utilize PayPal Payflow Pro as an SDK and an API. We do not directly push our payments into PayPal Payflow Pro."
• 0:19:13 "The SSO architecture... is not a simple SAML or OAuth. But it's not that difficult."
• 0:30:19 "We have data going back into the 1990s related to CE data. This data has no relevance to a person being certified or not anymore."

Systems & Configurations¶

Systems Mentioned¶

• InReach (LMS platform)
• CE Center (member-facing portal)
• CE Tracker (credit consolidation tool)
• AANP-CB (Certification Board - separate entity)
• PayPal Payflow Pro (payment gateway)
• Braintree (payment processor)
• Cloudflare R2 (data export storage)
• Zendesk (member support tickets)

Credit Flow Lifecycle¶

InReach Admin Features¶

Specific Configurations¶

GitHub Repositories¶

Credentials/Access Mentioned¶

• IT Support InReach login in 1Password
• App settings JSON files for API credentials
• InReach admin portal (separate login from reports)
• AANP-CB certification board site (completely separate login, no SSO)

Errors & Troubleshooting¶

• Issue: Eval sync queue items failing
• Cause: Various integration issues between conference eval and InReach
• Resolution: Set failed items back to pending; system retries up to 3 times; check queue for patterns

• Timestamp: 0:25:07

• Issue: Member data out of sync with InReach

• Cause: Changes in Aptify/Salesforce not reflected in InReach
• Resolution: Use "Sync Customer Details" button in InReach admin to force immediate sync

• Timestamp: 0:08:42

• Issue: AANP-CB membership verification failing

• Cause: Name or member ID mismatch between AANP and cert board profiles
• Resolution: Ensure first name, last name, and member number match exactly in both systems
• Timestamp: 0:16:02

SSO Architecture¶

Custom SSO Flow¶

1. User logs into eBusiness
2. Clicks CE Center link
3. Redirects to legacy app: redirect.aanp.org/inreach
4. App validates session and encrypts member ID + expiration time
5. Redirect to InReach CE Center with encrypted data
6. InReach authenticates the encrypted member ID and expiration
7. InReach requests detailed member data via API
8. InReach updates member info and displays appropriate content

Member Services API Endpoints¶

Both endpoints are IP-restricted to InReach servers and require API key authentication.

AANP-CB Integration¶

Cert Member Tool Features¶

• Staff search for members by name/email
• Verify membership status
• View CE Tracker data without member export
• Download data as JSON or PDF
• Certification board staff can approve credits directly

Verification Process¶

• AANP-CB is a separate entity with separate login
• No SSO between AANP and AANP-CB
• Member must have matching name + member number for verification
• Opt-in/opt-out for sharing CE data with certification board (popular member benefit)

Conference Integration¶

Conference Product Code Format¶

CONF{YY}{TYPE}_{EVENTID}

• YY: Last two digits of conference year
• TYPE: NAT (national) or FALL
• EVENTID: Event identifier

Example: CONF24NAT_12345

On-Demand Conference Process¶

1. Separate InReach platform instance spun up for on-demand
2. Members log in and complete evaluations
3. When closed, Jenny requests evaluation data export from InReach
4. Data provided in standard format
5. Handed off via help desk ticket to Sushmita
6. Imported into eval system and pushed to CE Center

Future Considerations¶

LMS Replacement¶

• Ethos or Maple LMS under consideration
• Key question: Can new LMS take over Conference Registration?
• If yes, many legacy apps can be retired
• Vendor should support conference management, speaker system, and evaluation
• Salesforce integration is a must-have

CE Tracker Data Strategy¶

• Historical data (pre-2018) has no certification value
• Consider archiving to separate database for research purposes
• Active data window: 7-8 years for current certification cycles
• Cold storage option: pre-rendered HTML, read-only for members
• Export everything possible before vendor transition

AANP-CB Coordination¶

• Recent layoffs and structural changes at AANP-CB
• Previous IT contact no longer there
• Need to re-establish contact and verify tool requirements
• Determine if current integrations are still needed
• Avoid supporting unused tools

Transcript Gaps & Quality Notes¶

• Recording from live knowledge transfer session
• Duration: ~33 minutes
• Presenter: Jeff Sikes
• Some audio artifacts/repetition in transcript
• Screenshots included for cert member tool (presenter lost access)
• References to Jenny Lee (Education team) as primary InReach operator
• Audio quality: Good