📖 Exchange Paradigms
- RESTful API
- Messaging
- Documents
- Services
- Subscriptions
- Batch/Transaction
- Video: FHIR Exchange Paradigms in 100 seconds
- Useful links
The various possibilities of exchanging FHIR resources are referred to as the FHIR exchange paradigms. There are six (?) of them:
RESTful API (Representational State Transfer):
The most common exchange paradigm in FHIR is the FHIR RESTful API1, where resources are accessed and manipulated using standard HTTP methods like GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc. Each resource has a unique URL, and operations are performed on these resources via HTTP requests. Supports searching, updating, and retrieving resources.
Messaging:
FHIR supports a message-based exchange paradigm where data is sent in the form of a message. Typically used for event-driven exchanges, such as sending alerts or notifications between systems. Messages contain a bundle of resources and are sent as a single transaction.
Documents:
FHIR documents are a static, narrative-driven bundle of resources that can be exchanged. These documents are used when a complete, self-contained package of information is needed, such as a discharge summary or a clinical report.
Unlike other paradigms, documents are meant to be read as a complete story and not interacted with piecemeal.
Services:
In this paradigm, FHIR can be used to define and invoke services. This includes clinical decision support services or other operations that are performed as a service call, with FHIR defining the request and response formats. Examples include operations like $validate, $lookup, or $expand.
Subscriptions:
FHIR supports a subscription model where clients can subscribe to certain events (like updates to a resource), and the server notifies them when these events occur. This is useful for real-time data updates, such as monitoring patient vitals or receiving updates when a patient’s status changes.
Batch/Transaction:
In this paradigm, multiple FHIR resources are bundled together and sent in a single HTTP request.
Batch
A group of independent operations that the server processesindividually.
Transaction
A group of operations that the server processes as a single atomic operation, where either all operations succeed, or none do.
You'll learn about the exchange paradigms in Chapter 9.
Video: FHIR Exchange Paradigms in 100 seconds.
Useful links
Official FHIR RESTful API Documentation
Official Messaging Documentation
Official Documents Documentation