← ReferenceStandards

What is a Resource?

A Resource is the fundamental unit of data in FHIR. Everything is a Resource: Patient, Observation, Condition, Encounter, MedicationRequest, DiagnosticReport. Each Resource is a structured JSON (or XML) document with a schema defined by HL7.

Minimal Patient resource (JSON)

{
  "resourceType": "Patient",
  "id": "patient-001",
  "meta": {
    "versionId": "1",
    "lastUpdated": "2026-06-06T10:00:00Z"
  },
  "name": [{ "family": "Horváth", "given": ["Jana"] }],
  "gender": "female",
  "birthDate": "1979-03-12"
}

Common elements (all resources)

resourceType — identifies which type of resource this is (always present)
id — the logical identifier assigned by the server
meta — versionId, lastUpdated, profile, tags, security labels
text — human-readable narrative (optional but recommended)
extension — adds data not in the base spec

Resource categories

Clinical: Patient, Observation, Condition, Encounter, MedicationRequest, DiagnosticReport, Procedure

Administrative: Organization, Practitioner, Location, Coverage, Claim

Infrastructure: Bundle, CapabilityStatement, OperationOutcome, ValueSet, StructureDefinition