FHIR Client for Python

Warnings

• gotcha Always explicitly specify the `fhir_version` when initializing `FHIRClient` (e.g., '4.0.0'). The FHIR standard evolves, and specifying the correct version ensures compatibility with your FHIR server and prevents unexpected behavior due to differing FHIR specifications.
  Fix: Initialize client with `FHIRClient(url, fhir_version='4.0.0')`.
• gotcha Choose between `AsyncFHIRClient` and `SyncFHIRClient` based on your application's architecture. Mixing async and sync calls or using the wrong client type in an async/sync context can lead to unexpected blocking behavior or errors.
  Fix: If your application uses `asyncio`, use `AsyncFHIRClient` and `await` its operations. For synchronous applications, use `SyncFHIRClient`.
• gotcha When fetching resources, `fetch()` and `fetch_all()` methods do not return included resources. If you need to retrieve all included resources as well, use the `fetch_raw()` method.
  Fix: For included resources, use `await search_set.fetch_raw()` instead of `await search_set.fetch()` or `await search_set.fetch_all()`.
• breaking While not directly a `fhirpy` change, the `fhir.resources` library (often used with `fhirpy` for data models) removed the `resource_type` attribute from its base FHIR class in version 7, in favor of a `get_resource_type()` method. This might affect code directly accessing `resource_type` on `fhir.resources` objects.
  Fix: Use `resource_instance.get_resource_type()` instead of `resource_instance.resource_type` for `fhir.resources` objects.

Install

• pip install fhirpy Install stable version
• pip install git+https://github.com/beda-software/fhir-py.git Install latest development version

Imports

• AsyncFHIRClient

  from fhirpy import AsyncFHIRClient

• SyncFHIRClient

  from fhirpy import SyncFHIRClient

• FHIRResource

  from fhirpy.base.resource import FHIRResource

  FHIRResource, FHIRReference, and FHIRSearchSet are part of the base module in recent versions. Direct import from fhirpy is for clients.

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates basic CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations and a search query using both the `AsyncFHIRClient` and `SyncFHIRClient`. Remember to set the `FHIR_SERVER_URL` environment variable or replace the placeholder with your actual FHIR server endpoint.

import asyncio
import os
from fhirpy import AsyncFHIRClient, SyncFHIRClient

# Replace with your FHIR server URL
FHIR_SERVER_URL = os.environ.get('FHIR_SERVER_URL', 'http://hapi.fhir.org/baseR4')

# --- Async Client Example ---
async def async_example():
    async_client = AsyncFHIRClient(FHIR_SERVER_URL, fhir_version='4.0.0')

    # Create a Patient resource
    patient = await async_client.resource('Patient', **{
        'resourceType': 'Patient',
        'gender': 'female',
        'name': [{'family': 'Doe', 'given': ['Jane']}]
    })
    await patient.save()
    print(f"Async: Created Patient with ID: {patient.id}")

    # Read the Patient resource
    read_patient = await async_client.resources('Patient').get(id=patient.id)
    print(f"Async: Read Patient: {read_patient.serialize()['name'][0]['given'][0]} {read_patient.serialize()['name'][0]['family']}")

    # Search for all Patients
    patients_search = async_client.resources('Patient').search(gender='female')
    all_patients = await patients_search.fetch_all()
    print(f"Async: Found {len(all_patients)} female patients.")

    # Delete the created Patient
    await read_patient.delete()
    print(f"Async: Deleted Patient with ID: {patient.id}")

# --- Sync Client Example ---
def sync_example():
    sync_client = SyncFHIRClient(FHIR_SERVER_URL, fhir_version='4.0.0')

    # Create a Patient resource
    patient = sync_client.resource('Patient', **{
        'resourceType': 'Patient',
        'gender': 'male',
        'name': [{'family': 'Smith', 'given': ['John']}]
    })
    patient.save()
    print(f"Sync: Created Patient with ID: {patient.id}")

    # Read the Patient resource
    read_patient = sync_client.resources('Patient').get(id=patient.id)
    print(f"Sync: Read Patient: {read_patient.serialize()['name'][0]['given'][0]} {read_patient.serialize()['name'][0]['family']}")

    # Search for all Patients
    patients_search = sync_client.resources('Patient').search(gender='male')
    all_patients = patients_search.fetch_all()
    print(f"Sync: Found {len(all_patients)} male patients.")

    # Delete the created Patient
    read_patient.delete()
    print(f"Sync: Deleted Patient with ID: {patient.id}")

if __name__ == '__main__':
    print("Running Async Example...")
    asyncio.run(async_example())
    print("\nRunning Sync Example...")
    sync_example()