Before Running the FHIR Quickstart¶
Before you start, make sure each prerequisite below is in place. The exercises build on each other, so missing a step early blocks you later.
Note
This quickstart assumes that the QIE server has been installed and configured and that you have been given a QIE username and password with privileges to create and modify zones, channels, system variables, and web service connections. Refer to the QIE Install Guide if any of that is not in place yet.
Complete the QIE Tutorial First¶
This quickstart assumes you are familiar with the QIE console, zones, channels, mapping and condition nodes, system variables, and the Test tab. If you have not yet completed the QIE Tutorial, do that first.
It also helps to have worked through the JSON Tutorial first. FHIR resources are JSON documents, and you are using JSON node paths in the mapping scripts.
Network Access to the HAPI FHIR Sandbox¶
Every hands-on exercise targets the public HAPI FHIR test server at:
Before going further, paste the URL below into a browser:
You should see a JSON Bundle containing one Patient entry. If the call fails, work with your network team to allow outbound HTTPS to hapi.fhir.org from the QIE host before continuing, or the exercises fail.
Public sandbox
hapi.fhir.org is a free, shared, public server. It is intended for learning and conformance testing only.
- Treat anything you submit as public. Do not post real patient information.
- The server resets its data periodically, so resources you create may disappear without notice.
- Search results may include test data from many other users and tools. IDs you note today are not guaranteed to exist tomorrow.
Sample HL7 ADT Message¶
The HL7 v2 to FHIR with a Template chapter needs a sample HL7 ADT message to convert. Create a file on your QIE workstation named adt-sample.hl7 containing this single message (Windows line endings or Unix line endings both work, because QIE normalizes them at parse time):
MSH|^~\&|LinkLogic-TEST|TEST000^E IM|Immunizations|E IM|20120807170000||ADT^A04|1659978000356110|P|2.3.1|||NE|NE
EVN|A04|20120807170000
PID|1||134908585^^^Hospital^MR||Doe^John^Q^Jr.^Mr.||1970-01-01|male|||123 Main St^^Anytown^NY^12345^USA||(123) 555-1234|(456) 555-5678
PV1|1|O|^^^E IM||||kstarr
Save it somewhere you can reach from QIE. The exercise both load this file into the channel's sample messages (so you can run the mapping from the Test tab) and pick it up live from a folder on disk when the running channel POSTs to HAPI. A common choice on Windows is C:\HL7\In\. Set the folder aside for QIE inputs only, since the File source deletes each message file after it processes it.
Why the values look FHIR-shaped
PID-7 (birth date) is 1970-01-01 and PID-8 (administrative sex) is male. Those are FHIR R4 values, not the HL7 v2 forms (19700101 and M) you would receive from a real source system. The template in the HL7 v2 to FHIR with a Template chapter substitutes both fields directly into the FHIR Patient resource, so pre-shaping them in the sample lets the quickstart focus on the template mechanics without also building code translations. A production channel would add a Table Lookup for the sex code and reformat the date string before evaluating the template.
The PID-3.1 value 134908585 is the patient ID used in both the FHIR resource body and the destination URL in the next chapter. Leave it as-is. The rest of the quickstart (template, connection URL, PUT method) is wired against this value.