Does OpenEMR FHIR have any API for Document Upload, and Can I combine Standard API with FHIR APIs?

OpenEMR Development
,
#1

Hi,

I am implementing the OpenEMR FHIR APIs for Health Care, The problem I am facing now, I can’t see any Specific API for uploading Documents to OpenEMR like OpenEMR Standard API.

Does OpenEMR FHIR have any API for Document Upload?

Another question, Can I use some APIs from Standard Distribution and some APIs from FHIR Distribution for the same application?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Regards
NJ Nafir
Full Stack Software Engineer

#2

Yes you can combine the APIs. Note the standard api’s only work for providers and will not work with patients.

In FHIR, there currently is not a mechanism for document upload. If your company wants to build that functionality out or fund developers in the community to build it, let us know.

#3

@Stephen Nielson. FHIR does offer document upload capabilities through the Binary resource (Binary - FHIR v4.3.0) . Please check out the IHE Mobile Access to Health Documents profile (IHE.ITI.MHD\MHD Home - FHIR v4.0.1) that defines guidelines how to use this (and other FHIR resources). The MHD profile also define how to query/retrieve documents).

#4

@Andries_Hamster my post is referring to OpenEMR’s implementation of FHIR. I know very well that the specification allows uploads.

My second sentence refers to the fact that if someone wants to either build this functionality into OpenEMR or pay one of us who built the FHIR implementation in OpenEMR to build that functionality, to please let us know.

#5

@Stephen,
We are developing an AI app and are using FHIR for EHR systems. Is there any document available that documents missing functionality or available functionality for FHIR with OpenEMR?

As an example, we could not get “AllergyIntolerance” does not return begin date and end date.
-ViSolve OpenEMR Development/Support Team

#6

Swagger will show the individual endpoints and the search parameters that can be used, but it doesn’t do a great job of documenting what the response types will be.

The best document that shows in terms of data response fields of what we support in OpenEMR is the 4.0.1 specification for FHIR US Core Profiles (version 3.1.0 of US Core) that we certified ONC against: HL7.FHIR.US.CORE\Home - FHIR v4.0.1

Looking at the Differential Table for each profile will show what OpenEMR absolutely supports in terms of fields returned. For example this is the Allergy Intolerance profile and if you look at the Differential Table it shows the mandatory fields we support.
http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/2022Jan/StructureDefinition-us-core-allergyintolerance.html

This can be derived programatically through the metadata endpoint in OpenEMR and hitting the profile definitions off of HL7:
https://localhost:9300/apis/default/fhir/metadata

As a broad overview, we support all of the mandatory read and search requirements that are outlined in US Core for those FHIR endpoints. There are a lot more optional fields supported by the FHIR resources but we’ve implemented very few of those.

There are a couple of create/update FHIR resources I think for patient and Practitioner but when I started looking at them we were not really spec compliant on them.

I’m in the middle of a project that will implement in a module the FHIR Questionnaire and QuestionnaireResponse endpoints and a very rudimentary version of the Task FHIR resource but that’s where things stand right now.

1 Like