Connecting Hospitalidée to Pro Santé Connect with RPPS account matching

Hospitalidée is a French platform dedicated to patient reviews and the online presence of healthcare professionals and organisations. Professionals have an account where they can manage their visibility and reputation, including responding to reviews.

Email-and-password login did not provide enough assurance for professional access. Pro Santé Connect verifies identity against data from the French Health Directory and lets the user choose between a physical CPS smart card and the e-CPS mobile app. The platform can rely on an already verified professional identity instead of creating a document-checking process.

OpenID Connect provides a sub claim that identifies the user at the identity provider. Hospitalidée needed a stable professional identifier already present on the relevant accounts, so it used RPPS to link the PSC identity to an application account.

Pro Santé Connect verifies the person’s identity and returns their professional attributes. Hospitalidée then finds the corresponding account, creates its own session and applies its authorisation rules.

In March 2026, ANS changed the sub claim format to a purely technical UUID, separate from the business identifier. No Hospitalidée accounts had to be migrated because account matching already relied on RPPS.

The integration uses OpenID Connect, the identity layer built on OAuth 2.0. The application redirects the browser to PSC. The professional uses a CPS smart card and reader or confirms the request in the e-CPS mobile application.

After successful authentication, PSC redirects the browser to the registered callback URL with an authorization code. A mature OIDC client library verifies state, exchanges the code, then validates the ID Token signature, its iss and aud claims, expiry and nonce before normalising the returned professional attributes. The server then uses RPPS to find the account and create a local session.

type Rpps = string & { readonly __brand: 'Rpps' }

type NormalizedPscIdentity = {
    rpps: Rpps
}

async function openProfessionalSession(
    identity: NormalizedPscIdentity,
) {
    const account = await professionalAccounts.findUniqueByRpps(identity.rpps)
    if (!account) throw new Error('Unknown RPPS')

    return sessions.create({
        accountId: account.id,
        authenticatedBy: 'psc',
    })
}

This type represents the normalised identity after the OIDC tokens have been validated. Only a validated RPPS value receives this branded type; the account is then retrieved through a unique RPPS index. Matching does not depend on the format of the sub claim.

The technical lead engagement covered coordination with ANS, environment configuration and validation of both sign-in methods. Tests went beyond simulated OIDC responses and included CPS test cards and readers as well as e-CPS test identities.

1. 01

   Obtain integration environment access

   The service is registered with ANS, which provides the access and settings required for initial integration tests.

2. 02

   Configure the OpenID Connect client

   Callback URLs and client settings are kept separate by environment using the values supplied during onboarding.

3. 03

   Verify CPS smart card sign-in

   CPS test cards and matching readers are used to check the login screen, card detection and PIN entry.

4. 04

   Verify e-CPS sign-in

   e-CPS test identities in the sandbox and the mobile app reproduce login confirmation without a physical card.

5. 05

   Keep a reusable test setup

   Byrds Consulting’s Editors and Integrators Agreement with ANS provides continued access to test cards and readers for future digital health integrations.

Acceptance testing covers the redirect to PSC, both sign-in methods and the return to Hospitalidée, alongside simulated HTTP exchanges.

The delivered sign-in flow lets healthcare professionals access their Hospitalidée account using a CPS smart card or e-CPS. The platform delegates identity verification to Pro Santé Connect and avoids requesting and checking professional documents itself.

Hospitalidée uses the RPPS returned by PSC to find the existing account. The application continues to manage the session and permissions.