Observation read

get/Observation/{id}

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This resource contains one or more results, findings, or measurements to inform a patient’s clinical condition (e.g., vitals, imaging results, lab results, device measurements).

Observations can help to identify baselines and patterns or define personal characteristics for a patient (e.g., height, weight, eye color). A DiagnosticReport resource may reference Observation resources to provide the metadata for a complete diagnostic report.

You can review, retrieve, create, or update observations for a patient.

Supported fields

We support any valid FHIR® field. However, we only display the fields that we’ve defined in the schema, which are usually based on what’s included in the U.S. Core profile.

read

Review a specific Observation resource with one or more defined observations for a patient.

To use a read interaction, you must know the related resource ID, which you may not have in your real workflows. A read is likely only a follow-up option after receiving the specific resource in a recent FHIR® passthrough or data on demand exchange.

Typically, you should use the more flexible _search with query parameters, unless you're guaranteed to request data directly from a FHIR® server using the resource ID. Learn more about using FHIR® identifiers.

Request parameters

cURL request example

bash

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curl 'https://api.redoxengine.com/fhir/R4/{destinationSlug}/{environmentFlag}/Observation/{id}' \
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--request GET \
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--header 'Authorization: Bearer $API_TOKEN'

Request Parameters

id
required, string
Observation identifier

Response fields and example

Vital Signs: Blood Pressure

json

1
{}

Used to contain patient blood pressure readings

resourceType
required, string
Identifies the type of the resource
Value: Observation
status
required, string
The status of the result value.
Possible Values: registered, preliminary, final, amended, corrected, cancelled, entered-in-error, unknown
category
required, Array of VSCat or Other
A code that classifies the general type of observation being made.
code
required, object
Blood Pressure.
- coding
  Array of object
  A reference to a code defined by a terminology system.
  system
  string
  The identification of the code system that defines the meaning of the symbol in the code.
  code
  string
  A symbol in syntax defined by the system. The symbol may be a predefined code or an expression in a syntax defined by the coding system (e.g. post-coordination).
- text
  string
  A human language representation of the concept as seen/selected/uttered by the user who entered the data and/or which represents the intended meaning of the user.
subject
required, object
The patient, or group of patients, location, or device this observation is about and into whose record the observation is placed. If the actual focus of the observation is different from the subject (or a sample of, part, or region of the subject), the focus element or the code itself specifies the actual focus of the observation.

Must be a resource of type Patient.
- reference
  string
  A reference to another resource. This is typically either a relative reference which includes the resource type and ID, or an internal reference which starts with # and refers to a contained resource.
component
required, Array of SystolicBP, DiastolicBP or Other
Used when reporting systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
effectiveDateTime
required, string
Often just a dateTime for Vital Signs.
id
string
The logical id of the resource, as used in the URL for the resource. Once assigned, this value never changes.
extension
Array of ObservationAttachment or Other
May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the resource. To make the use of extensions safe and manageable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension.
identifier
Array of object
A unique identifier assigned to this observation.
- extension
  Array of Boolean, String, CodeableConcept, Coding, HumanName or Reference
  May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element. To make the use of extensions safe and manageable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension.
  One of:
  url
  required, string
  Source of the definition for the extension code - a logical name or a URL.
  valueBoolean
  boolean
  A single value for the extension.
- use
  string
  The purpose of this identifier.
  Possible Values: usual, official, temp, secondary, old (If known)
- system
  string
  Establishes the namespace for the value - that is, a URL that describes a set values that are unique.
- value
  string
  The portion of the identifier typically relevant to the user and which is unique within the context of the system.
encounter
object
The healthcare event (e.g. a patient and healthcare provider interaction) during which this observation is made.

Must be a resource of type Encounter.
- reference
  string
  A reference to another resource. This is typically either a relative reference which includes the resource type and ID, or an internal reference which starts with # and refers to a contained resource.
performer
Array of object
Who was responsible for asserting the observed value as "true".

Must reference one of the following types of resources:
- Organization
- Practitioner
- reference
  string
  A reference to another resource. This is typically either a relative reference which includes the resource type and ID, or an internal reference which starts with # and refers to a contained resource.
dataAbsentReason
object
Provides a reason why the expected value in the element Observation.value[x] is missing.
- coding
  Array of object
  A reference to a code defined by a terminology system.
  system
  string
  The identification of the code system that defines the meaning of the symbol in the code.
  code
  string
  A symbol in syntax defined by the system. The symbol may be a predefined code or an expression in a syntax defined by the coding system (e.g. post-coordination).
- text
  string
  A human language representation of the concept as seen/selected/uttered by the user who entered the data and/or which represents the intended meaning of the user.
interpretation
Array of object
A categorical assessment of an observation value. For example, high, low, normal.
- coding
  Array of object
  A reference to a code defined by a terminology system.
  system
  string
  The identification of the code system that defines the meaning of the symbol in the code.
  code
  string
  A symbol in syntax defined by the system. The symbol may be a predefined code or an expression in a syntax defined by the coding system (e.g. post-coordination).
- text
  string
  A human language representation of the concept as seen/selected/uttered by the user who entered the data and/or which represents the intended meaning of the user.
note
Array of object
Comments about the observation or the results.
- text
  required, string
  The text of the annotation in markdown format.
bodySite
object
Indicates the site on the subject's body where the observation was made (i.e. the target site).
- coding
  Array of object
  A reference to a code defined by a terminology system.
  system
  string
  The identification of the code system that defines the meaning of the symbol in the code.
  code
  string
  A symbol in syntax defined by the system. The symbol may be a predefined code or an expression in a syntax defined by the coding system (e.g. post-coordination).
- text
  string
  A human language representation of the concept as seen/selected/uttered by the user who entered the data and/or which represents the intended meaning of the user.
referenceRange
Array of object
Guidance on how to interpret the value by comparison to a normal or recommended range. Multiple reference ranges are interpreted as an "OR". In other words, to represent two distinct target populations, two referenceRange elements would be used.
- low
  object
  The value of the low bound of the reference range. The low bound of the reference range endpoint is inclusive of the value (e.g. reference range is >=5 - <=9). If the low bound is omitted, it is assumed to be meaningless (e.g. reference range is <=2.3).
  value
  number
  The value of the measured amount. The value includes an implicit precision in the presentation of the value.
  _value
  object
  This element contains extensions for value. Depending on the extensions present it could be used in place of value or contain additional information about value. See the extension element for more details on the possible extensions being sent.
  extension
  Array of Precision or Other
  A Precision extension allows the communication of values more precise than a JSON number, for example, 3.10 as opposed to just 3.1.
  Any of:
  Explicit precision of the number. If the actual value is 3.10, the value field will contain the number 3.1 while the precision extension will contain 2.
  
  See http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/quantity-precision for more information
  url
  required, string
  Source of the definition for the extension code - a logical name or a URL.
  Value: http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/quantity-precision
  valueInteger
  required, number
  Number of significant decimal places after the decimal.
  unit
  string
  A human-readable form of the unit.
- high
  object
  The value of the high bound of the reference range. The high bound of the reference range endpoint is inclusive of the value (e.g. reference range is >=5 - <=9). If the high bound is omitted, it is assumed to be meaningless (e.g. reference range is >= 2.3).
  value
  number
  The value of the measured amount. The value includes an implicit precision in the presentation of the value.
  _value
  object
  This element contains extensions for value. Depending on the extensions present it could be used in place of value or contain additional information about value. See the extension element for more details on the possible extensions being sent.
  extension
  Array of Precision or Other
  A Precision extension allows the communication of values more precise than a JSON number, for example, 3.10 as opposed to just 3.1.
  Any of:
  Explicit precision of the number. If the actual value is 3.10, the value field will contain the number 3.1 while the precision extension will contain 2.
  
  See http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/quantity-precision for more information
  url
  required, string
  Source of the definition for the extension code - a logical name or a URL.
  Value: http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/quantity-precision
  valueInteger
  required, number
  Number of significant decimal places after the decimal.
  unit
  string
  A human-readable form of the unit.
- text
  string
  Text based reference range in an observation which may be used when a quantitative range is not appropriate for an observation. An example would be a reference value of "Negative" or a list or table of "normals".
valueQuantity
object
Vital Signs value are recorded using the Quantity data type. For supporting observations such as Cuff size could use other datatypes such as CodeableConcept.
- value
  number
  The value of the measured amount. The value includes an implicit precision in the presentation of the value.
- system
  string
  The identification of the system that provides the coded form of the unit.
- code
  string
  A computer processable form of the unit in some unit representation system.

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