Record Retrieval

Patient360 provides multiple ways to retrieve patient data from connected health information networks, including CommonWell, Carequality, eHealth Exchange, and TEFCA QHINs. The approach you choose depends on whether your system needs structured clinical data or direct access to clinical documents.

Retrieval Approaches

Health Gorilla supports two primary approaches for retrieving patient data.

Patient360 Structured Retrieval (Recommended)

Patient360 Structured Retrieval is the standard workflow for most implementations.

This approach:

Retrieves clinical documents from networks your organization is licensed to access and processes them into structured data
Normalizes data into structured FHIR resources
Deduplicates and reconciles data across sources
Stores the resulting dataset in your tenant

Use this approach when your system needs a longitudinal, reusable patient record, including support for:

Patient Chart (clinical viewer)
Structured FHIR queries
Downstream workflows and analytics

HIN Document Query

The HIN Document Query provides a FHIR-based method to retrieve clinical documents directly from connected networks without processing or storage.

This approach:

Returns document metadata and document content
Does not normalize or transform data
Does not store data in your tenant

HIN queries return documents only and do not populate the Patient Chart or structured dataset.

Use this approach for document-based workflows such as:

C-CDA ingestion
External document viewing
Lightweight integrations

Choosing the Right Approach

Use Case	Recommended Approach
Structured clinical data and Patient Chart	Patient360 Structured Retrieval
Longitudinal, deduplicated patient record	Patient360 Structured Retrieval
Data stored and reusable in your tenant	Patient360 Structured Retrieval
Direct access to clinical documents	HIN Document Query
Document-based workflows (e.g., C-CDA)	HIN Document Query
No normalization or storage required	HIN Document Query
Synchronous, on-demand retrieval	HIN Document Query

Patient Identity Requirement

All retrieval workflows require a valid Health Gorilla patient.

The patient must exist in your tenant
Requests must reference the Health Gorilla patient ID
Patient demographics should be complete and accurate

Patient identity and demographic completeness directly impact matching and retrieval success.

Key Takeaways

Patient360 supports two retrieval approaches: structured retrieval and document query
Patient360 Structured Retrieval is the recommended workflow for most use cases
HIN Document Query is used for document-based access without processing or storage
$p360-retrieve initiates structured retrieval and operates asynchronously
Structured data is stored in your tenant and accessible via FHIR APIs