← ReferenceStandards

What is FHIR Search?

FHIR Search is the mechanism for querying resources on a FHIR server using URL parameters. A search request returns a Bundle of type searchset containing all matching resources.

Basic search examples

GET /Patient?name=Horváth

GET /Patient?gender=female&birthdate=1979-03-12

GET /Observation?patient=1005&code=29463-7

GET /Condition?patient=1005&clinical-status=active

Search parameter types

string — partial match by default: name=Ján matches "Ján", "Jánošík"
token — exact match on code + system: identifier=system|value
date — supports prefixes: birthdate=ge1979 (ge, le, gt, lt, eq)
reference — search by reference: patient=Patient/1005
number — numeric search with prefixes
quantity — value + unit: value-quantity=80|kg

Common modifiers

:exact — exact string match: name:exact=Jana
:contains — substring match: name:contains=orv
:missing — resources where field is absent: birthdate:missing=true
_count — limit results: _count=10
_sort — sort results: _sort=-date (descending)
_include — include referenced resources in result: _include=Observation:patient