Glossary
What is FHIR resource?
A FHIR resource is a typed clinical data object (Patient, Observation, CarePlan, MedicationRequest, QuestionnaireResponse, Task, and others) defined by the HL7 FHIR specification.
In context
Each resource type has a defined structure, search parameters, and relationships to other types. References are typed (`Observation.subject` references `Patient` or `Group`), which makes resource graphs traversable both at the API layer and at the search layer.
Building an application on FHIR resources means adopting a clinical data model that already encodes decades of healthcare data management. Schema migrations driven by data modelling decisions are largely eliminated, and external systems that speak FHIR can read your data without a translation layer.
How Fire Arrow handles it
Fire Arrow stores all clinical data as standard FHIR R4 resources. Custom fields go on Extensions or in resource types you define through implementation guides; the rest of the schema is the FHIR specification.
