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Introduction to InterSystems FHIR Server

Important:

This is prerelease documentation. The features described are subject to change and may not yet be available for use.

The InterSystems® FHIR Server provides high-performance FHIR storage, searching, and analytics capabilities for healthcare applications. Whether you’re creating clinical patient apps with SMART on FHIR or developing back-end services handling bulk data, you can bring them to market faster using the InterSystems FHIR Server, with absolute confidence in the availability, speed, and reliability of yoru data store.

This document describes administrative and setup tasks that enable you to use the InterSystems FHIR Server.

For end-user and developer oriented documentation, see FHIR Support in InterSystems Products.

Log in to the Cloud Services Portal

The InterSystems Cloud Services Portal allows you to manage FHIR Server and any additional InterSystems cloud services.

If you have an account in the Cloud Services PortalOpens in a new tab, log in to the portal.

If you do not have an account, sign up for one, as follows:

  1. In your browser, go to the Cloud Services Portal create new account pageOpens in a new tab.

  2. On the Create a New Account page, enter the requested information, and click Create Account.

  3. Type the verification code sent to the email account you provided, and click Submit.

  4. On the login screen, log in with your username and password.

    If multi-factor authentication (MFA) is required to access your account, you will be asked to enable MFA. For more information, see Set Up Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)Opens in a new tab.

After you log in to your new account, you are taken to the Cloud Services page.

Sign Up for FHIR Server

You can create a FHIR Server subscription from the Cloud Services page of the Cloud Services Portal.

To subscribe to FHIR Server:

  1. In Cloud Services Portal, on the main menu, click Cloud Services.

    The Cloud Services page shows you any active subscriptions you have to InterSystems cloud services and allows you to sign up for additional services.

  2. On the FHIR as a Service card, click Subscribe.

  3. On the Subscribe page, read the pricing information and subscription options, and then Subscribe using the method of your choice.

    If you subscribe to FHIR Server with InterSystems, we will bill you directly. If you subscribe with your current cloud provider, billing and subscription management are handled through your account with that cloud provider.

You can also subscribe to FHIR Server and other InterSystems cloud services directly from the AWS MarketplaceOpens in a new tab.

Create a Deployment

Once you have signed up for FHIR Server, you are ready to deploy it in the cloud. If you are a subscriber, you can create multiple deployments, for example, development, test, and live.

Note:

If you have just subscribed to FHIR Server in the AWS Marketplace, you may need to wait a few minutes for the subscription to be finalized. You can check to see if this has occurred by checking the Cloud Services page in the Cloud Services Portal and seeing if FHIR Server is listed under Active Subscriptions.

  1. In the Cloud Services Portal, on the main menu, click Deployments.

  2. On the Deployments page, click Create New Deployment.

  3. On the Create InterSystems Deployment page, in the Deployment Options section:

    1. Under InterSystems FHIR Cloud Services, select InterSystems FHIR Server.

    2. Under Deployment Size, select a size.

      A description of the typical use case is listed for each size.

    3. Optionally, select the Highly Available (HA) Configuration to deploy a mirrored backup server automatically to minimize or eliminate downtime to FHIR Server.

      Note:

      Selecting this option will result in a higher cost to your subscription. This feature cannot be enabled or disabled after the deployment is created.

      This feature is not available with deployments having a size of Nano or Extra Small.

    4. Click Continue.

  4. In the Cloud Options section:

    1. Under Cloud Provider, select a provider.

    2. Under Region, select a region.

    3. Click Continue.

  5. In the Deployment Name section:

    1. Type a name for your deployment. This cannot be changed once created.

    2. Click Continue.

  6. In the Review section:

    1. Review the summary information.

    2. Click Create.

It takes a few minutes to deploy FHIR Server. When the deployment has completed, the status under the deployment name changes to COMPETE.

Click the card for the deployment to go to the Overview page for your new deployment.

The Deployment ID uniquely identifies your deployment. If a deployment has a status where you cannot access the deployment’s Overview page (for example, CREATING or UPDATING), its card on the Deployments page will display the Deployment ID.

Other actions are available by clicking the action menu at the top right of the card, such as setting the Service Level for the deployment or deleting the deployment. For more information, see Deployments pageOpens in a new tab.

Authentication and Authorization

FHIR requests made to the FHIR Server will be authenticated by OAuth 2.0 using third-party authorization servers such as Okta or Auth0.

For more detailed information, see FHIR Server Security.

Creating and Editing Credentials

If your production uses HTTP Credential ID or X-API Key Credential to authenticate between the OAuth server and a FHIR service such as Bulk FHIR, you will need appropriate credentials. You can set these up as follows:

  1. In the FHIR service, choose the Security Config icon from the left-hand menu, then choose Credentials.

  2. From the drop-down menu, choose the namespace in which you wish to manage credentials.

    Note:

    If you do not see your desired namespace in the list, you may require additional permissions. You must have read permission for the database associated with a namespace to see that namespace in the list.

  3. To create a new set of credentials, click New, and specify Name, Username, and Password.

  4. To save the new credentials, click Save. To cancel, click Cancel.

The process to edit an existing set of credentials is similar, but instead of clicking New, you will click the Edit icon associated with the credentials you wish to modify.

Note:

When editing a set of credentials, you cannot edit the Name field. If this field is incorrect, you can delete the credentials by clicking the associated Delete icon, then create new credentials with the correct name.

Configuring OAuth Clients for the Bulk FHIR Coordinator

When you create a configuration for the Bulk FHIR Coordinator (BFC), the Congifure FHIR Server OAuth form asks you to specify a Client Name. The BFC Coordinator then automatically creates and registers an OAuth client with that name.

If you wish to modify that OAuth client, you can do so as follows:

  1. In the FHIR service, choose the Security Config icon from the left-hand menu, then choose OAuth Clients.

  2. In the OAuth Clients table, click the pencil-shaped Edit icon in the row for the client you wish to edit.

  3. Make your edits in the edit window, then click Save.

    To revert to the previous state, eliminating your changes instead, click Reset. To cancel and close the editor, click Cancel.

Common Cloud Services Portal Functionality

For information on common Cloud Services Portal functionality that is not specific to InterSystems FHIR Server, see Cloud Services Portal Reference InformationOpens in a new tab. This document includes material describing the top-level pages in the main menu:


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