Implementation guide for interoperable medicines

This guidance is under active development by NHS England and content may be added or updated on a regular basis.

URL to a FHIR server

Using references by URL is the recommended / target solution where FHIR servers are available. These may be future nationally available FHIR servers or locally implemented FHIR servers. When referencing by URL it is recommended that the reference.display is populated with appropriate text as per the guidance within this document.

<MedicationRequest xmlns="http://hl7.org/fhir">
	<subject>
		<reference value="https://acmefhirserver/patient/2245386903"/> 
		<!-- where 2245386903 is the NHS number for Joe Bloggs held as the 'id' -->
		<display value="Joe Bloggs"/>
	</subject>
	<medicationReference>
		<reference value="https://acmefhirserver/medication/87652004"/> 
		<!-- where 87652004 is the dm+d concept code for Atenolol held as the 'id' -->
		<display value="Atenolol"/>
	</medicationReference>
	<!-- other elements of the MedicationRequest resource -->
</MedicationRequest>

This method of referencing other FHIR Resources allows for a truly RESTful implementation with end-points handling individual Resources. This is because the referenced Resources are not included within the transaction either in a Bundle or as Contained Resources. For example;

POST {base}/MedicationRequest

GET {base}/MedicationRequest

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