Redox alternatives: should you run your own interface engine? How QIE compares

If you are weighing Redox against running your own integrations, or you already use Redox and want more control over them, this page sets out the two models, the facts on each, and how the Qvera Interface Engine (QIE) compares.

The short answer

The Qvera Interface Engine (QIE) is a strong fit for software vendors and healthcare organizations that want to own their integrations: build and change interfaces themselves, run the engine in their own cloud, in containers or inside a hospital’s network, and pay by channel rather than by message. Qvera engineers are available to assist with each connection, high availability is included on every licensing model, and HL7, FHIR and DICOM run in the same engine. If you want one vendor to build, host and run every EHR connection for you and bill by transaction volume, that is what Redox sells, and QIE is not that. QIE is in production today at more than 600 sites, running more than 25,000 interfaces and processing more than 50 million messages a day.

A hosted integration service or an interface engine: which are you buying?

Redox and QIE solve the same problem, moving data between your software and the systems it needs to reach, in two different ways.

  • A hosted integration service. Redox describes itself as “your interoperability partner” with “100% cloud hosting”. Redox builds the connection to each EHR or partner, runs it in its own cloud on Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud, and bills a platform tier plus a consumption fee that “scales dynamically based on your anticipated annual transaction volume”. Your team codes to Redox’s API and provides a secure internet endpoint, and you adjust data through configuration in a web dashboard. Nothing is installed on your premises. Redox and other hosted networks suit a team that wants someone else to build and run every connection.
  • An interface engine you run. QIE is software your team installs and operates, on your own servers, in containers, or in your own AWS, Azure or Google Cloud account. Your team builds each interface in the channel editor and changes it when it needs to change, with Qvera engineers available to assist. You pay for the engine by channel or by instance, however many messages flow. It suits a team that wants control over its interfaces, needs to run inside a hospital network that does not allow an outside cloud-hosted system, or has customers in more than one country.

Three questions settle which you are buying. Do you want to keep an existing Redox service for the connections it already carries and use an engine for new ones, or replace it? How many connections would need building? And who on your team will own the interfaces once they run?

What should you look for in Redox alternatives?

Six things teams ask about when they weigh Redox against running an engine:

  1. How the price moves as you grow. Ask what you pay when you add a customer site, a second feed, or ten times the messages. Redox publishes a platform tier plus a consumption fee by transaction volume. QIE’s Channel-based licensing is priced by channel and does not limit message volume.
  2. Who can change an interface, and how fast. If a hospital changes a field on Tuesday, can your own team adjust the interface that day? With QIE your team edits the channel; with a hosted service you request the change.
  3. Where it can run. Some hospitals will not allow an outside cloud-hosted system in the path of their data. QIE installs inside the hospital’s network, in your cloud, or on your own servers.
  4. Standards and connections in one engine. HL7 v2, FHIR, X12, CDA and DICOM networking, plus direct connections to databases, files, message queues and network shares.
  5. Who does the work. Ask who builds the first connection, who tests it with your own messages, and who answers when it stops. With QIE, Qvera engineers assist with implementation, and support is 24/7 for system-down emergencies.
  6. A vendor you can check. A SOC 2 Type 2 report, published support hours, and documentation you can read before you buy.

Can you move your Redox integrations to QIE?

Yes, one connection at a time. A Redox integration is a connection Redox built between your software and a hospital’s EHR, delivered through Redox’s data models or its FHIR API. There is no file to convert. Moving it means building that connection again as a QIE channel on the hospital’s own HL7 or FHIR interface, the same interface the hospital exposes to the other systems it works with.

  • Each EHR connection becomes a QIE channel. The receiver node takes the hospital’s HL7 v2 feed or FHIR calls, mapping nodes shape the data into what your software expects, and the destination node delivers it to your endpoint. Qvera engineers are available to assist your team with each one.
  • Your Redox data model becomes a QIE mapping. The transformation Redox applied for you is built once in the channel editor, which handles an interface’s structure without code. Where logic needs code, QIE scripts are JavaScript; the AI Companion writes them from a description, and an engineer reviews each one before it goes live.
  • The two can run side by side. QIE sends to and receives from Redox like any other system, over HTTPS, SFTP or HL7 v2 on a direct network connection, so existing Redox connections keep running while new ones are built in QIE. Several QIE sites receive partner feeds that arrive through Redox today.
  • Vendors can embed it. If you ship QIE inside your product or run it at customer sites, the OEM licensing model is built for that; see pricing below.
  • Connection details are set up again. Each hospital’s credentials and network details are entered in QIE, and a direct connection replaces the Redox endpoint or VPN tunnel.
  • Each interface is tested with your own messages before it goes live, while the rest keep running where they are.

How does QIE compare with Redox?

Redox cells come from Redox’s own website, documentation, pricing page and legal pages, reviewed on 15 October 2026. Redox’s documentation is public, so “not published” means the item does not appear in it, not that it is proven absent.

What you are buying QIE Redox Engine
What it is Software you install and run: on your own servers, in containers, or in your own cloud account A hosted service: “100% cloud hosting” on Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud; nothing installed on your premises; you connect to it over the internet
Who builds each connection to an EHR or partner Your team, in the channel editor, with Qvera engineers available to assist Redox: “We build a system adapter for each system Redox integrates with”; your team codes to Redox’s API and provides a public HTTPS endpoint
Who runs it day to day Your team, or Qvera under an Integration Services engagement Redox: “we handle all ongoing monitoring, updates, and support”
Building interfaces QIE Redox Engine
How an interface is built Channel editor: receiver, mapping, condition and destination nodes Configuration in a web dashboard: config modifiers, filters, value sets and translation sets; content-based routing in the Advanced tier
Scripting language JavaScript, which can call Java libraries not published; logic beyond configuration lives in your own code or in Redox’s managed services
Testing with sample messages ✓ step-by-step testing with sample messages ✓ developer environment and test tools in every tier; staging and production environments
AI assistant in the product ✓ AI Companion, with every license; an MCP server will be available in the 26.4 release ✓ AI assistants and an MCP server (June 2026), in the Core and Advanced tiers
Configuration history ✓ every change, compare and restore not published
Standards and connections QIE Redox Engine
HL7 v2 ✓ over MLLP, HTTPS, files and more ✓ “HL7v2 over HTTPS”, or MLLP inside a VPN tunnel you build to Redox’s cloud
CDA and HL7 v3 ✓ C-CDA ✓; HL7 v3 messaging not published
FHIR ✓ as a client and producer, JSON and XML, OAuth 2.0 and SMART on FHIR scopes; not a FHIR server ✓ the Redox FHIR API, FHIR subscriptions, SMART on FHIR, CDS Hooks
X12 and NCPDP ✓ X12 ✓; NCPDP not in the published methods list
DICOM networking (store, query, retrieve, verification, worklist) ✓ in the engine DICOM listed as a data format and DICOMweb as a method; DICOM network roles not published
Direct connections to databases, message queues and network shares ✓ not published; the published methods are HTTPS, SFTP, cloud storage, webhooks and polling
Running it QIE Redox Engine
Where it runs Windows, Linux or macOS; vendor-published container images; Kubernetes, including Azure Kubernetes Service; AWS Elastic Container Service; your own AWS, Azure or Google Cloud account; on-premise Redox’s cloud only, on Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud; no on-premises, self-hosted or container edition published
Database Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL or MariaDB, under your control none to run; Redox holds the data
High availability ✓ two or more nodes share one database, automatic failover; included on every licensing model Service Level Agreement: “at least 99.95% System Availability during each calendar month”
Many sites from one console ✓ Remote Management Hub (RMH): sites connect outward, no inbound firewall rule or VPN per site one dashboard for your Redox organization
Where your message data lives In your database, under your retention policy In Redox’s cloud; full payloads containing PHI are kept 60 days, as published
Security and support QIE Redox Engine
Security attestations SOC 2 Type 2 SOC 2 Type 2 “consistently since July 2017”; HITRUST r2, as stated on its platform security page; HIPAA and GDPR statements
Support 24/7 for system-down emergencies; phone support (8am to 5pm Mountain), email, customer portal and knowledge base Business hours 7 AM to 7 PM Central; response targets of 15, 60 and 120 minutes by severity for live connections; after hours for critical production issues only
Documentation public, at qvera.com/docs public, at docs.redoxengine.com
Licensing QIE Redox Engine
Model and published prices Channel-based, Enterprise or OEM; production, test and developer licenses included; Channel-based licensing starts at $9,980 per year for 2 channels; see pricing below A platform tier plus an annual consumption fee by transaction volume. As published on Redox’s pricing page on 15 October 2026: Sandbox “Starting at $15k/year”, for companies under 500 employees and “Not applicable for Providers, Payers, or Enterprise organizations”; Core “Starting at $35k/year”; Advanced, “Contact our team”

Does QIE cover imaging, FHIR and cloud too?

Yes, in one engine. Anything QIE does for HL7 v2 it also does for HL7 v3, FHIR, DICOM including native DIMSE and DICOMweb, X12, ASTM, CDA and IHE profiles, over MLLP, REST, SFTP, file, database, message queue and network share. The Qvera DICOM Router is that same engine configured for imaging.

QIE works with FHIR as a client and a producer: it calls FHIR servers, including those behind OAuth 2.0 and SMART on FHIR, and produces FHIR from HL7 v2, CSV and database data. It is not a FHIR server. Redox offers its customers a FHIR API that Redox hosts; if your product needs a FHIR endpoint that someone else hosts and maintains, weigh that difference.

It runs on Windows or Linux, in Docker or Kubernetes from images Qvera maintains, or on AWS ECS: on-premise, in containers, or in your own AWS, Azure or Google Cloud account, against Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL or MariaDB. Running engines at more than one site, or inside networks you do not control, is what the Remote Management Hub (RMH) is for.

The Qvera Interface Engine · The Qvera DICOM Router · Remote Management Hub

How should you compare the options on your shortlist?

Whichever options are on your shortlist, hosted services or engines, ask every vendor, Qvera included, to show one of your own connections end to end: who builds it, how long it takes, how a change is made once it is live, how it is tested, and what the complete cost is at your message volume and customer count, with support, high availability and test environments included.

Running Mirth Connect?

See how QIE converts Mirth channels, and how it compares with Mirth 4.5.2, Mirth 4.6+ and the community forks.

What does QIE cost, and how is it licensed?

Qvera offers Channel-based, Enterprise, and OEM licensing models. Channel-based licensing starts at $9,980 per year for 2 channels and does not limit message volume. OEM licensing is for partners embedding or distributing QIE in their own product. View Qvera Licensing and Pricing.

Who already relies on QIE?

QIE is in production at more than 600 sites, running more than 25,000 interfaces and processing more than 50 million messages a day. Qvera has built healthcare interface engine software since 2008 and is SOC 2 Type 2 attested.

How this comparison is sourced: Qvera publishes this page and sells QIE. What this page says about QIE comes from Qvera’s own product documentation and production deployments; about Redox Engine, from Redox’s own website, documentation, pricing page and legal pages. All Redox information was last reviewed on 15 October 2026. Vendors change their products, so check their current documentation before relying on any single claim. Found something out of date? Tell us and we will correct it.

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