CTS2-LE Loader: FHIR
This section describes the CTS2-LE FHIR interface, along with the main use cases and the existent service platform and functionalities. Furthermore, the CTS2-representation of a FHIR value set (which directly reflects the resulting structure of an integrated value set) is illustrated. A background on FHIR, web technologies and CTS2 entities is assumed since these subjects will not be presented in detail.
FHIR and CTS2
FHIR and CTS2 employ slightly different notions for value sets: Within FHIR, "A value set can define its own codes, and/or a value set can be composed of codes defined in other code systems, either by listing the codes or by providing a set of selection criteria […] Value set resources can be converted to CTS2 value set and code system resources." CTS2 explicitly distinguishes between value sets ("a set of entity references" ) and code systems ("a collection of codes or identifiers […] used for reporting, organizing, and/or reasoning about knowledge in some discipline, specialty, or domain"). When wanting to be precisely, either the suffix “FHIR” or “CTS” is given to indicate the indented meaning.
Functional Scope
The CTS2-LE FHIR interface serves four main use cases:
- import a FHIR value set into the store
- remove FHIR value sets from the store
- resolve CTS-value sets according to FHIR-XML representation
The features outlined in use case 1 - 3 are provided by means of
- using the navigator front-end and as described here
- accessing a RESTful web service
