Interconnect FHIR® MPI Load

11 min

Introduction

Customers use FHIR® messages to provide Surescripts Health Information Network their member roster of patients that have given consent to be populated in the Surescripts Health Information Network Interconnect MPI. Surescripts Health Information Network uses that data from the customer to establish uniqueness for individuals across all customers. Surescripts Health Information Network search process uses demographics to identify a patient and then uses the customer’s unique member ID to communicate with the requesting and responding locations.

Some things to consider with the FHIR MPI Load messages:

To load patients to the Interconnect MPI, customers will use the FHIR Patient resource.

The message will be a POST with only a Patient FHIR payload.

Surescripts Health Information Network supports JSON and XML messages for the FHIR MPI load.

HTTP headers are required. See HTTP Request HeaderHTTP Request Header section for more information.

Surescripts Health Information Network uses the Active field in the FHIR Patient resource to determine whether to set the expiration date for sharing the patient:

Active = true: Indicates the patient can be shared (MPI expiration date should be null/empty)

Active = false: Indicates the patient cannot be shared (MPI expiration date should be set to the system date)

Active = empty: FHIR processing will default to false and the patient will be inactivated (MPI expiration date will be set to the system date)

Note: If the patient opts out of information sharing from a specific customer, they should be excluded or inactivated from the MPI File load.

Interconnect FHIR MPI Load Process Flow

The customer sends Surescripts Health Information Network a message that contains the patient demographic information using the FHIR Patient resource to load the MPI.

Note: In the FHIR Patient resource, there is an indicator for Active/Inactive patient. If the patient should be included in the MPI, it is set as “Active = True”. If the patient needs to be inactivated or opted-out, set this indicator as “Active = False”.

Surescripts Health Information Network populates the Interconnect MPI with the patient demographic information.

Surescripts Health Information Network responds with an HTTP Response indicating the process success or failure details.

Endpoints for Interconnect FHIR MPI Load

Reach out to your Surescripts Health Information Network Implementation resource or reference the Surescripts Connectivity Guide for endpoint information for the Interconnect MPI Load.

Requirement Designation

Code	Description
mandatory	The element must be used per the specification (e.g., XML schema validation). Note: The term mandatory applies to mandatory and required fields in the different standards. For example, FHIR uses the term required.
conditional	The element must be used per the conditions specified.
recommended	Surescripts Health Information Network recommends sending the element as a best practice.
optional	Some fields do not have specific conditions. Data should be sent if available.

HTTP Request Header Elements

Field	Code	Comment
Accept	mandatory	The Accept request-header field can be used to specify certain media types which are acceptable for the response. Values: application/fhir+xml application/fhir+json
Content-Length	mandatory	Used to indicate the total length of the request by character count. Example: 301
Content-Type	mandatory	The Content-Type header is to specify the media type of the content being sent. For more information see the Content Types and EncodingsContent Types and Encodings section below. Values: application/fhir+xml application/fhir+json
Originator-Home-Community-Id	mandatory	Identifying OID (Home Community Id) for the sender of the patient match request. Example: urn:oid:1.3.840.86667.42.1
Originator-Message-Id	mandatory	Used in message audit and highly valuable for support questions. Surescripts Health Information Network requires the message ID to be globally unique. A maximum length of 255 characters is permitted. Example: 3bb7cae9-e835-4844-a3ae-1c41abcea564

Note: Additional fields that are not mandatory can be sent in the HTTP Header. Surescripts Health Information Network will ignore those fields but will not reject the message.

HTTP Request Header Examples

Accept: application/fhir+json
Content-Type: application/fhir+json; charset=UTF-8
Originator-Home-Community-Id: urn:oid:2.11.222.3.444444.5.666
Originator-Organization-Name: ABC Clinic
Originator-Message-Id: 3bb7cae9-e835-4844-a3ae-1c41abcea564

Content-Type: application/fhir+json; charset=UTF-8

Content Types and Encodings

According to Section 3.1.0.1.9 of the FHIR® specification Content Types and encodings,

“The formal MIME-type for FHIR resources is application/fhir+json or application/fhir+xml. The correct mime type SHALL be used by clients and servers.” Later in that same section, “UTF-8 encoding SHALL be used for the mime type application/fhir. This MAY be specified as a MIME type parameter to the application/fhir mime type, but is not required.”

Because of these requirements, requests/responses will need to include a Content-Type in the HTTP header. Below is an example:

Content-Type: application/fhir+json; charset=utf-8

Note: charset=utf-8 is not required by Surescripts Health Information Network, but is supported if sent.

Interconnect FHIR MPI Load Element Requirements

The table below outlines the requirements for the Patient resource used for loading patients to the Surescripts Health Information Network Interconnect MPI.

Note: This guide includes data elements only where Surescripts Health Information Network has specific requirements or further explains the field usage. Refer to the Patient FHIR resource for a complete list of fields.

Element	Code	Cardinality	Type	Comment
Patient			Domain Resource	Information about an individual receiving health care services.
identifier	mandatory	1..*	Identifier	An identifier for this patient
name	mandatory	0..*	Human Name	A name associated with the patient
family	mandatory	1..1	string	Family name (often called ‘Surname’)
given	mandatory	1..*	string	Given names (not always ‘first’). Includes middle names.
prefix	optional	0..*	string	Parts that come before the name
suffix	optional	0..*	string	Parts that come after the name
telecom	optional	0..*	Contact Point	A contact detail for the individual
system	optional	0..1	code	Telecommunications form for contact point – what communications system is required to make use of the contact. Values: phone \| fax \| email \| pager \| url \| sms \| other
value	optional	0..1	string	The actual contact point details, in a form that is meaningful to the designated communication system (i.e. phone number or email address).
gender	mandatory	1..1	code	Administrative Gender – the gender that the patient is considered to have for administration and record keeping purposes. Values: male \| female \| other \| unknown
birthDate	mandatory	1..1	date	The date of birth of the individual
address	mandatory	1..*	Address	An address for the individual. May need to keep track of patient addresses for contacting, billing or reporting requirements and also to help with identification. Patient may have multiple addresses with different uses or applicable periods.
line	mandatory	1..*	string	Street name, number, direction & P.O. Box etc. This component contains the house number, apartment number, street name, street direction, P.O. Box number, delivery hints, and similar address information.
city	mandatory	1..1	string	The name of the city, town, suburb, village or other community or delivery center.
state	mandatory	1..1	string	Sub-unit of a country with limited sovereignty in a federally organized country. A code may be used if codes are in common use (e.g. US 2 letter state codes).
postalCode	mandatory	1..1	string	Postal code for area

Interconnect FHIR MPI Load Message Example

{
    "resourceType": "Patient",
    "id": "example-PatientMPILoad-Patient",
    "identifier":  [
        {
            "use": "usual",
            "type": {
                "coding":  [
                    {
                        "system": "http://hl7.org/fhir/v2/0203",
                        "code": "MR"
                    }
                ]
            },
            "system": "5.22.2019.1557.003",
            "value": "sgcWsrkqhp",
            "period": {
                "start": "2001-05-06"
            },
            "assigner": {
                "display": "Acme Healthcare"
            }
        }
    ],
    "active": "true",
    "name":  [
        {
            "use": "official",
            "family": "Riveiro",
            "given":  [
                "Elise",
                "ghm7DLGPfc"
            ]
        }
    ],
    "telecom":  [
        {
            "system": "phone",
            "value": "9525553230",
            "use": "home"
        }
    ],
    "gender": "female",
    "birthDate": "1969-05-22",
    "address": {
        "use": "home",
        "line":  [
            "1616 Warbler Lane",
            ""
        ],
        "city": "Saint Paul",
        "state": "MN",
        "postalCode": "55344"
    }
}