MedicationRequest

Overview

The MedicationRequest resource represents orders or requests for medication supply and administration instructions. This resource supports both inpatient and outpatient medication workflows, including prescriptions, care plans, and treatment protocols.

Important: Always validate MedicationRequest resource support and available operations by retrieving the current CapabilityStatement from /metadata before implementing integrations.

Resource Schema

The MedicationRequest resource follows the HL7 FHIR R4 MedicationRequest specification.

Key elements include:

identifier - External identifiers for the request
status - Active, on-hold, cancelled, completed, entered-in-error, stopped, draft, unknown
statusReason - Reason for current status
intent - Proposal, plan, order, original-order, reflex-order, filler-order, instance-order, option
category - Type of medication usage
priority - Routine, urgent, asap, stat
doNotPerform - True if request is prohibiting action
reportedBoolean - Reported rather than primary record
reportedReference - Person or organization that provided information
medicationCodeableConcept - Medication to be taken
medicationReference - Medication to be taken
subject - Who or group medication request is for
encounter - Encounter created as part of encounter
supportingInformation - Information to support ordering
authoredOn - When request was initially authored
requester - Who/What requested the medication
performer - Intended performer of administration
performerType - Desired kind of performer
recorder - Person who entered the request
reasonCode - Reason or indication for ordering medication
reasonReference - Condition or observation that supports why medication was ordered
instantiatesCanonical - Instantiates FHIR protocol or definition
instantiatesUri - Instantiates external protocol or definition
basedOn - What request fulfills
groupIdentifier - Composite request this is part of
courseOfTherapyType - Overall pattern of medication administration
insurance - Associated insurance coverage
note - Information about the prescription
dosageInstruction - How medication should be taken
dispenseRequest - Medication supply authorization
substitution - Any restrictions on medication substitution
priorPrescription - An order/prescription that is being replaced
detectedIssue - Clinical issue with action
eventHistory - A list of events of interest in the lifecycle

Example MedicationRequest Resource

{
  "resourceType": "MedicationRequest",
  "id": "12345",
  "identifier": [{
    "use": "official",
    "system": "http://hospital.example.org/prescriptions",
    "value": "RX-2024-001"
  }],
  "status": "active",
  "intent": "order",
  "category": [{
    "coding": [{
      "system": "http://terminology.hl7.org/CodeSystem/medicationrequest-category",
      "code": "outpatient",
      "display": "Outpatient"
    }]
  }],
  "priority": "routine",
  "medicationCodeableConcept": {
    "coding": [{
      "system": "http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/umls/rxnorm",
      "code": "197361",
      "display": "Lisinopril 10 MG Oral Tablet"
    }]
  },
  "subject": {
    "reference": "Patient/12345"
  },
  "encounter": {
    "reference": "Encounter/67890"
  },
  "authoredOn": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "requester": {
    "reference": "Practitioner/67890"
  },
  "reasonCode": [{
    "coding": [{
      "system": "http://snomed.info/sct",
      "code": "38341003",
      "display": "Hypertensive disorder"
    }]
  }],
  "dosageInstruction": [{
    "sequence": 1,
    "text": "Take one tablet by mouth once daily",
    "timing": {
      "repeat": {
        "frequency": 1,
        "period": 1,
        "periodUnit": "d"
      }
    },
    "route": {
      "coding": [{
        "system": "http://snomed.info/sct",
        "code": "26643006",
        "display": "Oral route"
      }]
    },
    "doseAndRate": [{
      "type": {
        "coding": [{
          "system": "http://terminology.hl7.org/CodeSystem/dose-rate-type",
          "code": "ordered",
          "display": "Ordered"
        }]
      },
      "doseQuantity": {
        "value": 1,
        "unit": "tablet",
        "system": "http://terminology.hl7.org/CodeSystem/v3-orderableDrugForm",
        "code": "TAB"
      }
    }]
  }],
  "dispenseRequest": {
    "validityPeriod": {
      "start": "2024-01-15",
      "end": "2024-04-15"
    },
    "numberOfRepeatsAllowed": 2,
    "quantity": {
      "value": 30,
      "unit": "tablet",
      "system": "http://terminology.hl7.org/CodeSystem/v3-orderableDrugForm",
      "code": "TAB"
    },
    "expectedSupplyDuration": {
      "value": 30,
      "unit": "days",
      "system": "http://unitsofmeasure.org",
      "code": "d"
    }
  }
}

Supported Profiles

This API supports the following FHIR profiles:

HL7 FHIR R4 MedicationRequest

Operations

The General Purpose FHIR R4 MedicationRequest resource supports the following standard operations. However, support varies by the targeted CareRecord or solution.

CareRecord / Solution	Create	Read	Update	Search
GEHRIMED	-	Yes	-	Yes
myAvatar	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
myEvolv	-	Yes	-	Yes
myUnity	-	Yes	-	Yes
Referral Manager	-	-	-	-

Search

info

Not all Netsmart solutions support MedicationRequest search. See supported operations table above and consult your target solution's documentation for more information.

This resource supports a combination of standard and custom search parameters in addition to the common parameters.

Standard Parameters

Name	Type	Description
patient	reference	REQUIRED Returns prescriptions for a specific patient.
authoredon	date	Return prescriptions written on this date
encounter	reference	Return prescriptions with this encounter identifier

Custom Parameters

Name	Type	Description
end	date	Deprecated. Use `date` parameter with `le` prefix instead.
start	date	Deprecated. Use `date` parameter with `ge` prefix instead.
lastUpdated	date	Return data that was updated on a specific date
text	string	Search text

Search Examples

The POST method is recommended as it keeps health information out of the URL.

Production
Preview

Search Medication Requests by Patient
curl -X POST https://fhir.netsmartcloud.com/v4/MedicationRequest/_search \
    -H "Authorization: {Bearer Token}" \
    -H "Accept: application/fhir+json" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/x-form-urlencoded" \
    -d "patient=Patient/345" \
    

Search Medication Requests by Patient
curl -X POST https://fhirtest.netsmartcloud.com/v4/MedicationRequest/_search \
    -H "Authorization: {Bearer Token}" \
    -H "Accept: application/fhir+json" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/x-form-urlencoded" \
    -d "patient=Patient/345" \
    

Error Handling

For information about error responses when working with MedicationRequest resources, see Common Errors.

Common MedicationRequest-related errors include:

Missing required patient reference
Invalid medication codes or RxNorm codes
Malformed dosage instructions
Invalid requester or performer references

Integration Patterns

Medication History

Retrieve patient's medication orders:

# Get all medication requests for patient
curl -X GET "https://fhir.netsmartcloud.com/v4/MedicationRequest?patient=12345" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer {token}" \
    -H "Accept: application/fhir+json"

Clinical Decision Support

Check for drug interactions and allergies:

# Get active medication requests
curl -X GET "https://fhir.netsmartcloud.com/v4/MedicationRequest?patient=12345&status=active" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer {token}" \
    -H "Accept: application/fhir+json"

Prescription Tracking

Track prescriptions by encounter:

# Get medications prescribed during encounter
curl -X GET "https://fhir.netsmartcloud.com/v4/MedicationRequest?encounter=67890" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer {token}" \
    -H "Accept: application/fhir+json"

Provider Workflows

Track prescriptions by prescriber:

# Get medications by authored date
curl -X GET "https://fhir.netsmartcloud.com/v4/MedicationRequest?patient=12345&authoredon=ge2024-01-01" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer {token}" \
    -H "Accept: application/fhir+json"

Relationships to Other Resources

The MedicationRequest resource connects to many clinical and administrative resources:

Patient - The individual for whom medication is prescribed
Practitioner - Healthcare providers prescribing medications
Encounter - Clinical encounters during which medications are prescribed
Condition - Health conditions being treated with medications
AllergyIntolerance - Allergies that affect medication selection
Organization - Healthcare organizations managing prescriptions
Coverage - Insurance coverage for medications

Support

For questions about MedicationRequest resource implementation or prescription workflows, contact Netsmart support through your designated support channels.

Overview​

Resource Schema​

Example MedicationRequest Resource​

Supported Profiles​

Operations​

Search​

Standard Parameters​

Custom Parameters​

Search Examples​

Error Handling​

Integration Patterns​

Medication History​

Clinical Decision Support​

Prescription Tracking​

Provider Workflows​

Relationships to Other Resources​

Support​