German Prescription Delivery System: Sending Messages to Pharmacies via FHIR API

Details

This article illustrates a component of the healthcare interoperability system in Germany. Patients can assign prescriptions electronically by selecting a pharmacy through the official gematik application, in addition to receiving printed copies. This assignment triggers a message sent to the pharmacy. Technically, the RED telematik API communication service is utilized, allowing pharmacies to poll for new messages. A GET request is used to retrieve unread messages, and the requesting patient is identified by their SMC-B card. The response from the API is an XML dataset containing multiple FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) resources, including `Communication` resources. Specifically, the `Communication` resource is employed, with the payload containing patient details such as address and name. Furthermore, the message is shown to be based on a specific task (Task/160.000...), demonstrating interoperability achieved through FHIR's StructureDefinition and reference mechanisms. This represents an example of standardized data exchange for advanced electronic prescription delivery within Germany.