Importing CSV data into a FHIR server

Suppose you have a csv file of data, and you want to load that into a FHIR server. There are a number of ways that you could do that – depending on the nature of the csv file and the capabilities of the FHIR server that you want to update.

Let’s work through a simple scenario.

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Securing a FHIR endpoint in Node-RED

So in a comment to the previous post on using Node-RED to create Tasks from Assessments, Michael suggested that I talk about some of the  security considerations that you might have. There are a few ways you could make this more secure that I can think of.

  • The simplest way would be to put the whole thing behind as API manager (such as APIgee or WSO2) and delegate security to that application. In effect you are trusting the API manager.
  • Another way is to follow the SMART / OAuth process – check that a valid access token issued by an Authorization Server (Authz) has been provided in the call, rejecting the call if not.
  • And yet another option is to perform the whole OAuth2 dance – look for a valid access token, taking on the role of the Authorization server if not – validating the user and issuing tokens.

(And there will be plenty of others I’m sure). Naturally all calls will use SSL.

Let’s look a bit further into the second option – checking for a valid access token, and simply rejecting the call if there is not one present.

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Using Node-RED to implement clinical workflow

So a colleague came to me with an interesting challenge – how can you use Node-RED to implement clinical workflow? That’s a rather broad topic, so let’s take a simple use case.

Suppose you have an assessment, and as part of that assessment you want to be able to create a number of actions. For example you might want to book an appointment, order a test, notify someone if a score is above a threshold or enrol them on a case management programme. Let’s look at how we might implement this in Node-RED and FHIR.

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How to Profile

Just came across this resource from the firely folk. Michel (author of Forge) pointed me to it when i was asking slicing questions on the FHIR chat.

A great introduction to profiling in FHIR using the Forge tool for concrete examples and well worth a look …