Understanding FHIR

This implementation guide is based on the HL7 FHIR standard. It uses terminology, notations and design principles that are specific to FHIR. Before reading this implementation guide, it is important to be familiar with some of the basic principles of FHIR as well as general guidance on how to read FHIR specifications. Readers who are unfamiliar with FHIR are encouraged to read (or at least skim) the following prior to reading the rest of this implementation guide.

• FHIR overview
• Developer's introduction
• (or Clinical introduction)
• FHIR data types
• Using codes
• References between resources
• How to read resource & profile definitions
• Base resource
• RESTful operations
• Search

Feel free to explore other aspects of the FHIR specification that you feel may be relevant or of interest.

Resources

This implementation guide defines profiles on several resources. Where implementers adhere to one of the profiles defined in this guide, they will also need to adhere to the base expectations defined in the profiled resource. Implementers are strongly encouraged to read through the introductions and implementation notes associated with each resource they will implement, though not all resource guidance will necessarily apply in the context of implementing this guide.