Register a patient

Use case for registering a patient with an organisation

API use case

The “Register a patient” use case creates a new temporary patient registration, or re-activates an existing “inactive” patient registration as a temporary patient registration within the GP practice system (Definition of a GP Connect active patient).

This page describes a single use case. For complete details and background please see the Foundations capability bundle.

Note: This API use case is designed only to support the need to register a temporary patient at a federated organisation as an enabler for federated appointment bookings. It does not change a patient’s registered practice information as held on the Personal Demographics Service (PDS).

Security

GP Connect utilises TLS Mutual Authentication for system level authorisation
GP Connect utilises a JSON Web Tokens (JWT) to transmit clinical audit and provenance details

Prerequisites

Consumer

The consumer system:

SHALL have previously resolved the organisation’s FHIR endpoint Base URL through the Spine Directory Service
SHALL have previously traced the patient’s NHS number using the Personal Demographics Service or an equivalent service

API usage

Request operation

FHIR relative request

POST /Patient/$gpc.registerpatient

FHIR absolute request

POST https://[proxy_server]/https://[provider_server]/[fhir_base]/Patient/$gpc.registerpatient

Request headers

Consumers SHALL include the following additional HTTP request headers:

Header	Value
`Ssp-TraceID`	Consumer’s TraceID (i.e. GUID/UUID)
`Ssp-From`	Consumer’s ASID
`Ssp-To`	Provider’s ASID
`Ssp-InteractionID`	`urn:nhs:names:services:gpconnect:fhir:operation:gpc.registerpatient-1`

Example HTTP request headers:

POST http://gpconnect.aprovider.nhs.net/GP001/DSTU2/1/Patient/$gpc.registerpatient HTTP/1.1
User-Agent: .NET FhirClient for FHIR 1.2.0
Accept: application/fhir+json;charset=utf-8
Prefer: return=representation
Host: michaelm-pc
Content-Type: application/fhir+json;charset=utf-8
Content-Length: 289
Expect: 100-continue
Connection: Keep-Alive
Ssp-TraceID: 629ea9ba-a077-4d99-b289-7a9b19fd4e03
Ssp-From: 200000000115
Ssp-To: 200000000116
Ssp-InteractionID: urn:nhs:names:services:gpconnect:fhir:operation:gpc.registerpatient-1

Payload request body

The request payload is a Parameters resource conforming to the GPConnect-RegisterPatient-Operation-1 profile, with a single parameter of registerPatient containing a Patient resource profiled to the CareConnect-GPC-Patient-1 profile. This is the patient to be registered.

Within the Patient resource:

The following fields SHALL be populated as a minimum to allow the provider system to perform a PDS trace:
- identifier with the patient’s NHS Number
- name including family and given, with the use element set to official.
  - No more than one instance of name where use is set to official SHALL be provided.
- birthDate
The following fields SHOULD be populated, to create the patient’s record in the provider system:
- gender
- address with the patient’s home address, with the use of home. No more than one instance of this use SHALL be populated.
- telecom with the patient’s telephone number(s), with use of home, work or mobile, and system of phone. No more than one instance of each use SHALL be populated.
- telecom with the patient’s email address if available, with system of email. No more than one instance of this SHALL be populated.
- a single instance of nhsCommunication if available, specifically the language and interpreterRequired sub-elements
  
  Important: If the above “SHOULD” fields are not provided, the provider system will use demographics retrieved from PDS in order to create the patient’s record.
The following fields MAY be populated in order to record temporary details known to the consuming system:
- address with temporary address details, with the use of temp. No more than one instance of this use SHALL be populated.
- telecom with temporary telephone details, with the use of temp and system of phone. No more than one instance of this SHALL be populated.
All other fields MUST NOT be populated.

On the wire a JSON serialised $gpc.registerpatient request would look something like the following:

{
  "resourceType": "Parameters",
  "parameter": [
    {
      "name": "registerPatient",
      "resource": {
        "resourceType": "Patient",
        "meta": {
          "profile": [
            "https://fhir.nhs.uk/STU3/StructureDefinition/CareConnect-GPC-Patient-1"
          ]
        },
        "identifier": [
          {
            "extension": [
              {
                "url": "https://fhir.nhs.uk/STU3/StructureDefinition/Extension-CareConnect-GPC-NHSNumberVerificationStatus-1",
                "valueCodeableConcept": {
                  "coding": [
                    {
                      "system": "https://fhir.nhs.uk/CareConnect-NHSNumberVerificationStatus-1",
                      "code": "01",
                      "display": "Number present and verified"
                    }
                  ]
                }
              }
            ],
            "system": "https://fhir.nhs.uk/Id/nhs-number",
            "value": "9476719931"
          }
        ],
        "name": [
          {
            "use": "official",
            "text": "Minnie DAWES",
            "family": "Jackson",
            "given": [
              "Jane"
            ],
            "prefix": [
              "Miss"
            ]
          }
        ],
        "telecom": [
          {
            "system": "phone",
            "value": "01454587554",
            "use": "home"
          },
          {
            "system": "phone",
            "value": "07777111222",
            "use": "mobile"
          }
        ],
        "gender": "female",
        "birthDate": "1952-05-31",
        "address": [
          {
            "use": "home",
            "type": "physical",
            "line": [
              "1 Withings Lane",
              "Shadwell"
            ],
            "city": "Leeds",
            "district": "West Yorkshire",
            "postalCode": "LS18 1AE"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

Provider system registration requirements

Important: The following registration requirements MUST be implemented by providers, however due to provider system variances the implemented flow MAY deviate where required to accommodate these and shall be agreed and documented accordingly.

PDS requirements

Before registering the patient record on the local system, the provider SHALL retrieve the patient’s demographic record using a PDS Retrieval Query, and then:

Verify the patient’s NHS Number according to the rules below:
- The NHS Number within the request is considered verified if:
  - The NHS number is found on PDS and the date of birth in the request exactly matches the date of birth held on PDS
  - OR should 2 out of 3 parts of the date of birth match (YYYY or MM or DD) AND the first 3 characters of the first family name match and the initial character of the given match that held for the record on PDS.
- If both of the above checks fail to find a match then the NHS Number is treated as not verified
  
  Note: The provider MAY use a PDS Cross Check Trace to perform this step, instead of using a PDS Retrieval and implementing the rules local locally.
  If using the Cross Check Trace, the provider MUST then perform a subsequent Retrieval Query in order to return the patient’s full PDS record to supplement the patient’s demographics when creating or updating the patient’s record (in Local registration requirements).
Check that the patient is not recorded as deceased on PDS
Check that patient’s PDS record does not have any of the following PDS flags:
- Invalid
- Sensitive
- Superseded

Duplicate record prevention

Before registering the patient record on the local system, the provider SHALL check the practice patient index for matching patients using the patient’s NHS Number, and then:

If a matching patient record IS found:
- and the matching patient record’s NHS Number has not previously been traced or verified, it SHALL be verified using the rules shown above
  - If the verification fails the registration SHALL be halted and an error returned to the consuming system
- Then, if the matching patient record:
  - is active (i.e. a currently registered patient, of any registration type):
    - The registration SHALL be halted and error is returned to the consumer
  - is inactive (i.e. a patient whose registration has lapsed of any registration type):
    - The patient record SHALL be re-activated as a temporary patient
    - Follow the Local registration requirements when updating the patient’s demographics
  - is recorded as deceased:
    - The registration SHALL be halted and an error returned to the consuming system
If a matching patient record IS NOT found:
- A new temporary patient record SHALL be created
- Follow the Local registration requirements when creating the patient record

Warning: Provider systems MUST NOT create or re-activate a patient as a GMS (regular) patient. Doing so would adversely affect national systems and interfere with the practice’s caseload.

Local registration requirements

The patient record SHOULD be created or updated using:
- demographic details sent by the consumer
- supplemented by demographics returned from a PDS Retrieval Query where elements were omitted by the consumer or not part of the payload request message
- temporary address or temporary telecom details sent by the consumer SHOULD be marked with an end date aligned with the expiry date of the temporary record.
If the provider system synchronises temporary patient records with PDS:
- an update SHALL NOT automatically be sent to PDS
- PDS synchronisation SHALL occur where a user is present during the next routine synchronisation event (for example, a receptionist opening the patient’s record)
- temporary address or temporary telecom details SHOULD be marked with an end date.
a populated Patient resource representing the record created, or reactivated and updated, SHALL be returned to the consuming system shown in Payload response body below.

Error Handling

The provider system MUST return a GPConnect-OperationOutcome-1 resource that provides additional detail when one or more data field is corrupt or a specific business rule/constraint is breached.

The table below shown common errors that may be encountered during this API call, and the returned Spine error code. Please see Error handling guidance for additional information needed to create the error response, or to determine the response for errors encountered that are not shown below.

Errors returned due to parameter failure MUST include diagnostic information detailing the invalid parameter.

Error encountered	Spine error code returned
The `Parameters` resource passed by the consuming system including the embedded `Patient` resource is invalid, or does not include the minimum mandatory details	`INVALID_RESOURCE`
The NHS Number could not be found on PDS, or verified against a PDS record	`INVALID_PATIENT_DEMOGRAPHICS`
The patient is marked as deceased on PDS, or on the provider system	`INVALID_PATIENT_DEMOGRAPHICS`
The registration request is for a sensitive patient	`INVALID_PATIENT_DEMOGRAPHICS`
The PDS record contains an invalid or superseded flag	`INVALID_NHS_NUMBER`
PDS is unavailable, or could not be contacted	`INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR`
The patient is already registered	`DUPLICATE_REJECTED`

Request response

Response headers

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Cache-Control: no-store
Content-Type: application/fhir+json; charset=utf-8
Date: Sun, 07 Aug 2016 11:13:05 GMT
Content-Length: 1464

Payload response body

Provider systems:

SHALL return a 200 OK HTTP status code on successful registration of the patient into the provider system.
SHALL include the URI of the relevant GP Connect StructureDefinition profile in the Patient.meta.profile element of the returned resources.
SHALL return a searchset Bundle profiled to GPConnect-Searchset-Bundle-1 with a Patient profiled to CareConnect-GPC-Patient-1
SHALL populate the Patient resource with details of the newly registered or re-activated patient
SHALL populate the following fields:
- meta.profile with the profile URI
- versionId with the current version of the Patient resource.
- identifier with relevant business identifiers, including a minimum of the patient’s NHS Number
- name
- birthDate
- gender
- address where available
- telecom where available
- contact with the patient’s contacts - see Patient.contact population for further details
- registrationDetails.preferredBranchSurgery with a reference to a Location resource representing the patient’s preferred branch surgery (see Branch surgeries for more details), for a re-activated patient where available
- registrationDetails.registrationType with the registration type used within the provider system. If an appropriate registration type is not available within the valueset then the Other type SHALL be use and the name of the registration type SHOULD be added using the text element of the CodeableConcept
- nhsCommunication with the patient’s language information, where available
- managingOrganization Note: this is the current organisation, as addressed by ODS code in the base URL, and NOT the patient’s registered practice which may be different
SHALL meet General FHIR resource population requirements populating all fields where data is available, excluding those listed below
SHALL NOT populate the following fields:
- ethnicCategory
- religiousAffiliation
- patient-cadavericDonor
- residentialStatus
- treatmentCategory
- birthPlace
- maritalStatus
- multipleBirthBoolean

{
  "resourceType": "Bundle",
  "meta": {
    "profile": [
      "https://fhir.nhs.uk/STU3/StructureDefinition/GPConnect-Searchset-Bundle-1"
    ]
  },
  "type": "searchset",
  "entry": [
    {
      "resource": {
        "resourceType": "Patient",
        "id": "2",
        "meta": {
          "versionId": "1469448000000",
          "profile": [
            "https://fhir.nhs.uk/STU3/StructureDefinition/CareConnect-GPC-Patient-1"
          ]
        },
        "extension": [
          {
            "url": "https://fhir.nhs.uk/STU3/StructureDefinition/Extension-CareConnect-GPC-RegistrationDetails-1",
            "extension": [
              {
                "url": "registrationPeriod",
                "valuePeriod": {
                  "start": "2017-09-07T14:17:44+01:00"
                }
              },
              {
                "url": "registrationType",
                "valueCodeableConcept": {
                  "coding": [
                    {
                      "system": "https://fhir.nhs.uk/CareConnect-RegistrationType-1",
                      "code": "T"
                    }
                  ]
                }
              }
            ]
          }
        ],
        "identifier": [
          {
            "extension": [
              {
                "url": "https://fhir.nhs.uk/STU3/StructureDefinition/Extension-CareConnect-GPC-NHSNumberVerificationStatus-1",
                "valueCodeableConcept": {
                  "coding": [
                    {
                      "system": "https://fhir.nhs.uk/CareConnect-NHSNumberVerificationStatus-1",
                      "code": "01",
                      "display": "Number present and verified"
                    }
                  ]
                }
              }
            ],
            "system": "https://fhir.nhs.uk/Id/nhs-number",
            "value": "9476719931"
          }
        ],
        "active": true,
        "name": [
          {
            "use": "official",
            "text": "JACKSON Jane (Miss)",
            "family": "Jackson",
            "given": [
              "Jane"
            ],
            "prefix": [
              "Miss"
            ]
          }
        ],
        "telecom": [
          {
            "system": "phone",
            "value": "01454587554",
            "use": "home"
          },
          {
            "system": "phone",
            "value": "07777111222",
            "use": "mobile"
          }
        ],
        "gender": "female",
        "birthDate": "1952-05-31",
        "address": [
          {
            "use": "home",
            "type": "physical",
            "line": [
              "1 Withings Lane",
              "Shadwell"
            ],
            "city": "Leeds",
            "district": "West Yorkshire",
            "postalCode": "LS18 1AE"
          }
        ],
        "managingOrganization": {
          "reference": "Organization/14"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}