Choose the right integration approach for your healthcare application based on your development needs, timeline, and customisation requirements.
Choose Elements if you want to:
- Get up and running quickly with minimal development effort
- Use Hero's proven, NHS-compliant UX patterns out of the box
- Minimise development and ongoing maintenance overhead
- Focus engineering resource on your core product features
Choose APIs if you want to:
- Create fully custom user experiences with complete control over UI/UX
- Integrate deeply with existing clinical workflows or data models
- Build unique functionality on top of Hero's healthcare infrastructure
| Factor | Elements | APIs |
|---|---|---|
| Time to market | Hours | Days to weeks |
| Development effort | Low | Moderate to high |
| UI/UX control | Hero's design (themeable) | Complete control |
| Maintenance | Hero maintains | You maintain |
| Customisation | Limited to theming | Unlimited |
| Update management | Automatic | Manual implementation |
Elements are distributed as private npm packages. To get started you'll need:
- A GitHub Personal Access Token (PAT) — issued by Hero, required to install private packages from our npm registry
- An API key and practice group ID — to authenticate your Elements at runtime via short-lived access tokens
Contact Hero support to request credentials, and see the Elements setup guide for full installation instructions.
All you need is an API key and practice group ID. Read the Authentication guide then follow Your first API call to make a working request in minutes.
You need to add a standardised patient communication feature quickly. Embed the Messaging Element to instantly provide messaging capabilities without building and maintaining complex UI components. Hero handles the UX, NHS compliance, and ongoing improvements automatically.
You're building a patient portal or practice management system and need appointment booking or consultation flows that just work. Elements let you ship a complete, tested experience without the effort of building from scratch.
You're building a specialised clinical workflow that needs to integrate messaging or booking data with patient records in a way that reflects your own UI conventions. APIs give you full control to create interfaces that match your clinical workflow and integrate with your existing systems.
You're serving multiple practices with different branding requirements. APIs let you build completely customised experiences for each tenant whilst leveraging Hero's backend infrastructure.
You don't have to choose one or the other. Many integrations use both:
- Elements for standard flows (messaging, booking, consultation) that don't need custom UI
- APIs for unique features, custom reporting, or deep integration with existing systems
Example: Use the Appointment Scheduler Element for patient-facing booking, but use the Booking Links API to generate appointment invitations inside your own scheduling workflow.
If you start with Elements and later need more customisation, Elements continue working whilst you develop API-based features in parallel. Replace Elements with custom implementations gradually — no disruption to existing users.
If you want to reduce maintenance overhead, identify areas where Hero's pre-built UX covers your needs, implement Elements alongside your existing integration, then deprecate custom UI components over time.
- Ready to embed? Start with the Elements documentation
- Building with APIs? Read the Authentication guide and Your first API call