Type-Level Search

Search Resources by Type

curl --request GET \
  --url http://localhost:8080/fhir/{resourceType} \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>'

{
  "resourceType": "Bundle",
  "total": 123,
  "link": [
    {
      "relation": "<string>",
      "url": "<string>"
    }
  ],
  "entry": [
    {
      "fullUrl": "<string>",
      "resource": {
        "resourceType": "<string>",
        "id": "<string>",
        "meta": {
          "versionId": "<string>",
          "lastUpdated": "2023-11-07T05:31:56Z",
          "profile": [
            "<string>"
          ],
          "tag": [
            {
              "system": "<string>",
              "version": "<string>",
              "code": "<string>",
              "display": "<string>"
            }
          ],
          "security": [
            {
              "system": "<string>",
              "version": "<string>",
              "code": "<string>",
              "display": "<string>"
            }
          ]
        }
      },
      "request": {
        "url": "<string>"
      },
      "response": {
        "status": "<string>",
        "location": "<string>",
        "etag": "<string>",
        "lastModified": "2023-11-07T05:31:56Z",
        "outcome": {
          "resourceType": "OperationOutcome",
          "issue": [
            {
              "details": {
                "coding": [
                  {
                    "system": "<string>",
                    "version": "<string>",
                    "code": "<string>",
                    "display": "<string>"
                  }
                ],
                "text": "<string>"
              },
              "diagnostics": "<string>",
              "location": [
                "<string>"
              ]
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

GET

{resourceType}

Search Resources by Type

curl --request GET \
  --url http://localhost:8080/fhir/{resourceType} \
  --header 'Authorization: Bearer <token>'

{
  "resourceType": "Bundle",
  "total": 123,
  "link": [
    {
      "relation": "<string>",
      "url": "<string>"
    }
  ],
  "entry": [
    {
      "fullUrl": "<string>",
      "resource": {
        "resourceType": "<string>",
        "id": "<string>",
        "meta": {
          "versionId": "<string>",
          "lastUpdated": "2023-11-07T05:31:56Z",
          "profile": [
            "<string>"
          ],
          "tag": [
            {
              "system": "<string>",
              "version": "<string>",
              "code": "<string>",
              "display": "<string>"
            }
          ],
          "security": [
            {
              "system": "<string>",
              "version": "<string>",
              "code": "<string>",
              "display": "<string>"
            }
          ]
        }
      },
      "request": {
        "url": "<string>"
      },
      "response": {
        "status": "<string>",
        "location": "<string>",
        "etag": "<string>",
        "lastModified": "2023-11-07T05:31:56Z",
        "outcome": {
          "resourceType": "OperationOutcome",
          "issue": [
            {
              "details": {
                "coding": [
                  {
                    "system": "<string>",
                    "version": "<string>",
                    "code": "<string>",
                    "display": "<string>"
                  }
                ],
                "text": "<string>"
              },
              "diagnostics": "<string>",
              "location": [
                "<string>"
              ]
            }
          ]
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Type-Level Search

Search for resources of a specific type using search parameters.

resource_type

string

required

The FHIR resource type to search (e.g., Patient, Observation, Encounter)

Endpoint

GET /fhir/:resource_type
GET /fhir/:resource_type/_search
POST /fhir/:resource_type/_search

GET Request

Search using query parameters:

curl "https://your-server.com/fhir/Patient?name=Doe&gender=male&_count=10"

POST Request

Use POST for complex searches or when query string length is a concern:

POST /fhir/Patient/_search
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

name=Doe&gender=male&_count=10

Search Parameters

Search parameters are resource-type specific. Common examples:

Patient Search

name - Search by patient name
identifier - Search by identifier (e.g., identifier=http://example.org/mrn|12345)
gender - Filter by gender (male, female, other, unknown)
birthdate - Filter by birth date (supports prefixes: eq, gt, lt, ge, le)
address - Search by address
telecom - Search by contact information

Observation Search

patient - Filter by patient reference
code - Filter by observation code
date - Filter by observation date
value-quantity - Filter by value
status - Filter by status

Common Parameters (All Types)

_id - Filter by resource ID
_lastUpdated - Filter by last updated date
_tag - Filter by tags
_profile - Filter by profile
_security - Filter by security labels
_count - Maximum number of results
_sort - Sort order
_summary - Summary mode
_total - Include total count

Examples

Search Patients by Name

GET /fhir/Patient?name=Doe

Search Patients by Identifier

GET /fhir/Patient?identifier=http://example.org/mrn|12345

Search Observations for a Patient

GET /fhir/Observation?patient=Patient/123&code=http://loinc.org|29463-7

Search with Date Range

GET /fhir/Observation?patient=Patient/123&date=ge2024-01-01&date=le2024-12-31

Search with Multiple Parameters

GET /fhir/Patient?name=Doe&gender=male&birthdate=ge1990-01-01&_count=20&_sort=-birthdate

Response

Success (200 OK)

Returns a Bundle containing matching resources:

{
  "resourceType": "Bundle",
  "type": "searchset",
  "total": 5,
  "link": [
    {
      "relation": "self",
      "url": "https://your-server.com/fhir/Patient?name=Doe"
    }
  ],
  "entry": [
    {
      "fullUrl": "https://your-server.com/fhir/Patient/123",
      "resource": {
        "resourceType": "Patient",
        "id": "123",
        "name": [{"family": "Doe", "given": ["John"]}],
        ...
      }
    }
  ]
}

No Results

Returns an empty bundle if no resources match:

{
  "resourceType": "Bundle",
  "type": "searchset",
  "total": 0,
  "entry": []
}

Modifiers

Search parameters support modifiers:

:exact - Exact match
:contains - Contains substring
:text - Text search
:above - Above in hierarchy
:below - Below in hierarchy
:not - Negation
:in - Value in set
:not-in - Value not in set

Example with Modifiers

GET /fhir/Patient?name:contains=John&birthdate:ge1990-01-01

Chaining

Chain searches through references:

GET /fhir/Observation?patient.name=Doe&patient.gender=male

This searches for observations where the patient’s name is “Doe” and gender is “male”.

Reverse Chaining

Search resources that reference a specific resource:

GET /fhir/Observation?_has:Patient:identifier=http://example.org/mrn|12345

This finds observations for patients with a specific identifier.

Notes

Search parameters are case-sensitive
Multiple values for the same parameter use AND logic
Different parameters use AND logic
Use _include and _revinclude to include related resources
Check the resource’s search parameters in the capability statement

Authorizations

Authorization

string

header

required

Bearer token authentication

Path Parameters

resourceType

string

required

The FHIR resource type (e.g., Patient, Observation, Encounter)

string

required

The logical ID of the resource

Query Parameters

_count

integer

default:10

Maximum number of results to return

Required range: x >= 0

_sort

string

Sort order (prefix with - for descending)

_summary

enum<string>

Summary mode

Available options:

true,

text,

data,

count

_total

enum<string>

Include total count

Available options:

none,

estimate,

accurate

_lastUpdated

string

Filter by last updated date

Response

Search results

A container for a collection of resources

resourceType

enum<string>

required

Resource type

Available options:

Bundle

type

enum<string>

required

Indicates the purpose of this bundle

Available options:

document,

message,

transaction,

transaction-response,

batch,

batch-response,

history,

searchset,

collection

total

integer

If search, the total number of matches

link

object[]

Links related to this Bundle

Show child attributes

entry

object[]

Entry in the bundle

Show child attributes

System-Level Search Compartment Search

​Type-Level Search

​Endpoint

​GET Request

​POST Request

​Search Parameters

​Patient Search

​Observation Search

​Common Parameters (All Types)

​Examples

​Search Patients by Name

​Search Patients by Identifier

​Search Observations for a Patient

​Search with Date Range

​Search with Multiple Parameters

​Response

​Success (200 OK)

​No Results

​Modifiers

​Example with Modifiers

​Chaining

​Reverse Chaining

​Notes

Authorizations

Path Parameters

Query Parameters

Response

Type-Level Search

Endpoint

GET Request

POST Request

Search Parameters

Patient Search

Observation Search

Common Parameters (All Types)

Examples

Search Patients by Name

Search Patients by Identifier

Search Observations for a Patient

Search with Date Range

Search with Multiple Parameters

Response

Success (200 OK)

No Results

Modifiers

Example with Modifiers

Chaining

Reverse Chaining

Notes