This isn't a data problem.
It's an access problem.
Lab results, imaging, notes — locked inside proprietary systems with no standard exit.
Every EMR vendor built their own API before FHIR. HL7 v2 messages are a relic of the fax era.
Clinicians who understand the data best have historically had zero access to extract or transform it.
"The clinician who writes the guideline is also the one who can build the API wrapper that puts it to work at the bedside."— DoctorsWhoCode.blog
You already know which data points matter. You don't need a product manager to explain the clinical context of a hemoglobin A1c.
SMFM, ACOG, ADA guidelines live in your head. FHIR lets you encode them as executable logic, not static PDFs.
Physician-built tools have credibility with clinical colleagues that vendor tools never will.
Visit open.epic.com and create a free developer account. No EHR contract or enterprise agreement required.
Generate client credentials (Client ID + SMART launch URL). Select FHIR R4 as the API version — this is the current standard.
pip install fhirclient — The canonical Python wrapper over the FHIR REST API. Wraps OAuth 2.0 and resource serialization.
Epic sandbox base: fhir.epic.com/interconnect-amcurr-oauth/api/FHIR/R4. All API calls target this endpoint with your credentials.
FGRManager.html receives patient context on EHR launch via SMART protocol
Observation resources (EFW, AC percentile) populate fields automatically from the EMR
Delivery timing recommendations can be written back as FHIR CarePlan resources
Chukwuma Onyeije, MD, FACOG · Maternal-Fetal Medicine · Atlanta Perinatal Associates
Physician-Developer · OpenMFM.org · CodeCraftMD