FHIR R4 Medications API

Medications API includes following FHIR R4 Profiles:

Medication

Representing medications in the majority of healthcare settings is a matter of identifying an item from a list and then conveying a reference for the item selected either into a patient-related resource or to other applications. Additional information about the medication is frequently provided for human verification, but a full representation of the details of composition and efficacy of the medicine is conveyed by referring to drug dictionaries by means of the codes they define. There are some occasions where it is necessary to identify slightly more detail, such as when dispensing a package containing a particular medication requires identification both of the medicine and the package at once. There are also some occasions (e.g. custom formulations) where the composition of a medicine must be represented. In these cases, the ingredients of the medicine have to be specified together with the amount contained, though the Medication resource does not provide full details.

Immunization

The Immunization resource is intended to cover the recording of current and historical administration of vaccines to patients across all healthcare disciplines in all care settings and all regions. This includes immunization of both humans and animals but does not include the administration of non-vaccine agents, even those that may have or claim to have immunological effects. While the terms "immunization" and "vaccination" are not clinically identical, for the purposes of the FHIR resources, the terms are used synonymously.

MedicationRequest

The MedicationRequest resource is called "MedicationRequest" rather than "MedicationPrescription" or "MedicationOrder" to generalize the use across inpatient and outpatient settings, including care plans, etc., and to harmonize with workflow patterns.

This resource covers all type of orders for medications for a patient. This includes inpatient medication orders as well as community orders (whether filled by the prescriber or by a pharmacy). It also includes orders for over-the-counter medications (e.g. Aspirin), total parenteral nutrition and diet/ vitamin supplements. It may be used to support the order of medication-related devices. It is not intended for use in prescribing particular diets, or for ordering non-medication-related items (eyeglasses, supplies, etc.). In addition, the MedicationRequest may be used to report orders/request from external systems that have been reported for informational purposes and are not authoritative and are not expected to be acted upon (e.g. dispensed or administered).

MedicationStatement

MedicationStatement is a record of a medication that is being consumed by a patient. A MedicationStatement may indicate that the patient may be taking the medication now or has taken the medication in the past or will be taking the medication in the future. The source of this information can be the patient, significant other (such as a family member or spouse), or a clinician. A common scenario where this information is captured is during the history taking process during a patient visit or stay. The medication information may come from sources such as the patient's memory, from a prescription bottle, or from a list of medications the patient, clinician or other party maintains.

Common usage includes:

• the recording of non-prescription and/or recreational drugs
• the recording of an intake medication list upon admission to hospital
• the summarization of a patient's "active medications" in a patient profile