Query FHIR Data as a MySQL Database in Node.js

You can use the SQL Gateway from the ODBC Driver for FHIR to query FHIR data through a MySQL interface. Follow the procedure below to start the MySQL remoting service of the SQL Gateway and start querying using Node.js.

Connect to FHIR Data

If you have not already done so, provide values for the required connection properties in the data source name (DSN). You can use the built-in Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to configure the DSN. This is also the last step of the driver installation. See the "Getting Started" chapter in the help documentation for a guide to using the Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator to create and configure a DSN.

Set URL to the Service Base URL of the FHIR server. This is the address where the resources are defined in the FHIR server you would like to connect to. Set ConnectionType to a supported connection type. Set ContentType to the format of your documents. Set AuthScheme based on the authentication requirements for your FHIR server.

Generic, Azure-based, AWS-based, and Google-based FHIR server implementations are supported.

Sample Service Base URLs

• Generic: http://my_fhir_server/r4b/
• Azure: https://MY_AZURE_FHIR.azurehealthcareapis.com/
• AWS: https://healthlake.REGION.amazonaws.com/datastore/DATASTORE_ID/r4/
• Google: https://healthcare.googleapis.com/v1/projects/PROJECT_ID/locations/LOCATION/datasets/DATASET_ID/fhirStores/FHIR_STORE_ID/fhir/

Generic FHIR Instances

The product supports connections to custom instances of FHIR. Authentication to custom FHIR servers is handled via OAuth (read more about OAuth in the Help documentation. Before you can connect to custom FHIR instances, you must set ConnectionType to Generic.

Configure the SQL Gateway

See the SQL Gateway Overview to set up connectivity to FHIR data as a virtual MySQL database. You will configure a MySQL remoting service that listens for MySQL requests from clients. The service can be configured in the SQL Gateway UI.

Query FHIR from Node.js

The following example shows how to define a connection and execute queries to FHIR with the mysql module. You will need the following information:

• Host name or address, and port: The machine and port where the MySQL remoting service is listening for MySQL connections.
• Username and password: The username and password of a user you authorized on the Users tab of the SQL Gateway.
• Database name: The DSN you configured for the MySQL remoting service.

Connect to FHIR data and start executing queries with the code below:

var mysql      = require('mysql');
var connection = mysql.createConnection({
  host     : 'localhost',
  database : 'CData FHIR Sys',
  port	   : '3306',
  user     : 'mysql_user',
  password : 'test'
});
connection.connect();
connection.query('SELECT * FROM Patient', function(err, rows, fields) {
  if (err) throw err;
  console.log(rows);
});

connection.end();