FHIR Patient
The Patient resource holds demographic and administrative information about an individual receiving care: identifiers, name, gender, birth date, contact details, and address. It is the anchor most other clinical resources reference via `subject` or `patient`.
US Core requirements
The elements below come from the profiles in our catalog that target Patient. “Required” elements fail validation if absent; recommended elements are Must Support but do not fail on their own.
US Core Patient (6.1)
http://hl7.org/fhir/us/core/StructureDefinition/us-core-patient
Required
Patient.identifier— US Core requires at least one Identifier on Patient.Patient.name— US Core requires at least one HumanName on Patient.Patient.gender— US Core requires administrative gender on Patient.
Recommended
Patient.birthDate— US Core strongly recommends birthDate on Patient.Patient.telecom— US Core recommends contact telecom for Patient.Patient.address— US Core recommends mailing address for Patient.
IPS Patient (International Patient Summary)
http://hl7.org/fhir/uv/ips/StructureDefinition/Patient-uv-ips
Required
Patient.identifier— IPS requires at least one Identifier on Patient.Patient.name— IPS requires at least one HumanName on Patient.Patient.gender— IPS requires administrative gender on Patient.Patient.birthDate— IPS requires birthDate on Patient.
AU Core Patient (2.0.0)
http://hl7.org.au/fhir/core/StructureDefinition/au-core-patient
Required
Patient.identifier— AU Core requires at least one Identifier on Patient. AU-specific identifiers are sliced as IHI (system http://ns.electronichealth.net.au/id/hi/ihi/1.0), Medicare card number (http://ns.electronichealth.net.au/id/medicare-number), and DVA number (http://ns.electronichealth.net.au/id/dva). The IHI SHOULD be used in preference where available.Patient.name— AU Core requires at least one HumanName on Patient (with at least a family name).Patient.gender— AU Core requires administrative gender on Patient (administrative-gender value set: male | female | other | unknown).Patient.birthDate— AU Core requires birthDate on Patient (mandatory, 1..1).
Recommended
Patient.telecom— AU Core flags telecom as Must Support — populate contact details when known.Patient.address— AU Core flags address as Must Support — Australian address preferred.Patient.identifier.system— AU Core recommends recording the IHI (Individual Healthcare Identifier) using system http://ns.electronichealth.net.au/id/hi/ihi/1.0 where available, in preference to Medicare or DVA numbers.
Minimal valid example
A minimal FHIR R4 Patient that satisfies the common required elements:
{
"resourceType": "Patient",
"identifier": [
{
"system": "http://hospital.example.org/mrn",
"value": "MRN12345"
}
],
"name": [
{
"family": "Doe",
"given": [
"John",
"A"
]
}
],
"gender": "male",
"birthDate": "1980-01-01"
}Common validation failures
- Missing `identifier`. US Core requires at least one identifier with a real `system` URI, not just a bare value.
- Missing `name`, or a name with neither `family` nor `given`. At least one usable name part is expected.
- `gender` set to an HL7v2 code (`M`/`F`) instead of the FHIR administrative-gender value (`male`/`female`/`other`/`unknown`).
- `birthDate` in `YYYYMMDD` instead of ISO-8601 `YYYY-MM-DD`.
Frequently asked questions
What is the FHIR Patient resource?
The Patient resource holds demographic and administrative information about an individual receiving care: identifiers, name, gender, birth date, contact details, and address. It is the anchor most other clinical resources reference via `subject` or `patient`.
What are the US Core, IPS & AU Core required elements for Patient?
For US Core Patient (6.1), the elements marked required (error severity) are: Patient.identifier, Patient.name, Patient.gender. For IPS Patient (International Patient Summary), the elements marked required (error severity) are: Patient.identifier, Patient.name, Patient.gender, Patient.birthDate. For AU Core Patient (2.0.0), the elements marked required (error severity) are: Patient.identifier, Patient.name, Patient.gender, Patient.birthDate. Recommended (Must Support but not failing) elements are also flagged by the coverage tool.
How do I validate a FHIR Patient?
Paste the resource into the FHIR validator for a structural parse and conformance score, or use the coverage tool to score it against a specific profile like US Core. Both run in your browser, so PHI never leaves your device.
What are common Patient validation failures?
Missing `identifier`. US Core requires at least one identifier with a real `system` URI, not just a bare value. Missing `name`, or a name with neither `family` nor `given`. At least one usable name part is expected.