# How to do bi-directional FHIR synchronization between openlisglobal-webapp and external-fhir-api? **URL:** \ **Category:** Ask OpenELIS\ **Created:** [August 28, 2026, 1:19pm UTC](https://talk.openelis-global.org/t/how-to-do-bi-directional-fhir-synchronization-between-openlisglobal-webapp-and-external-fhir-api/2398 "2026-08-28T13:19:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ptk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d07c76/32.png) [@ptk](https://talk.openelis-global.org/u/ptk)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2026, 1:19pm UTC](https://talk.openelis-global.org/t/how-to-do-bi-directional-fhir-synchronization-between-openlisglobal-webapp-and-external-fhir-api/2398/1 "2026-08-28T13:19:11Z")
Hi guys, We are developing the medical device. I made a decision to leverage OpenELIS as a test integration platform. I was able to provision your [docker application stack](https://github.com/DIGI-UW/openelis-docker) but I ran into expired certificate issues that I addressed by rebuilding your cert image. To test our device I started interacting with FHIR server that comes as part of OpenELIS docker stack (external-fhir-api). I was able to get ServiceRequests and submit Observation and DiagnosticReport structures. But when I submit results I cannot see them in OpenELIS UI (webapp). I tried to configure properties of webapp by setting `org.openelisglobal.remote.source.uri=https://fhir.openelis.org:8443/fhir/` but it didn’t help. How do I close the loop? How make sure that data gets back to GUI? I also considered HL7v2 and Analyzer path but there is no plugins for our device type and not even a category. I am experienced software engineer but this is my first medical device and I haven’t worked with LIS/LIMS and medical environment before, so I would appreciate guidance around these topics. ---
**Author:** ![Moses\_Mutesasira](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.openelis-global.org/moses_mutesasira/32/72_2.png) [@Moses\_Mutesasira](https://talk.openelis-global.org/u/Moses_Mutesasira)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 9:40am UTC](https://talk.openelis-global.org/t/how-to-do-bi-directional-fhir-synchronization-between-openlisglobal-webapp-and-external-fhir-api/2398/2 "2026-08-31T09:40:40Z")
Hello @ptk , OpenELIS currently supports one-way, asynchronous synchronization from the OpenELIS web application to its FHIR server. Records created or updated in OpenELIS are converted to FHIR resources, but submitting or modifying `Observation` and `DiagnosticReport` resources directly in the FHIR server does not synchronise those results back into the OpenELIS UI. So, changing `org.openelisglobal.remote.source.uri` will not close that loop; it does not enable a bidirectional FHIR-to-OpenELIS result-import workflow. FHIR is intended primarily to support the lab-order workflow between an EMR and OpenELIS, as described here: [OpenELIS FHIR lab workflow](https://digi-uw.github.io/openelis-global2-fhir-ig/workflows.html). For analyzer/device result integration, the appropriate route is the OpenELIS [analyzer integration](https://openelis-global.org/analyzers/) path. If your device is not supported by an existing plugin or category, you would likely need to develop a custom analyzer integration/adapter that maps your device’s output into the OpenELIS result-entry workflow. In short: writing results directly to `external-fhir-api` is useful for FHIR testing, but it will not make those results appear in the OpenELIS GUI today. ---
**Author:** ![ptk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d07c76/32.png) [@ptk](https://talk.openelis-global.org/u/ptk)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 12:03pm UTC](https://talk.openelis-global.org/t/how-to-do-bi-directional-fhir-synchronization-between-openlisglobal-webapp-and-external-fhir-api/2398/3 "2026-08-31T12:03:57Z")
Hi Moses. Thank you for the reply! I kinda already discovered that FHIR is a dead end and it was very non-intuitive and totally unexpected. I looked into analyzer integrations but my docker installation has no plugins. Based on the docs there should be generic plugins that handle HL7v2. Is there a place where I can download binaries? I see only source code and I am not a Java guy. ---
**Author:** ![Moses\_Mutesasira](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.openelis-global.org/moses_mutesasira/32/72_2.png) [@Moses\_Mutesasira](https://talk.openelis-global.org/u/Moses_Mutesasira)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 12:16pm UTC](https://talk.openelis-global.org/t/how-to-do-bi-directional-fhir-synchronization-between-openlisglobal-webapp-and-external-fhir-api/2398/4 "2026-08-31T12:16:44Z")
Here is a simmilar [docker installation setup](https://github.com/DIGI-UW/openelis-madagascar-distro) but with default analyzer configurations including the [generic plugins](https://github.com/DIGI-UW/openelis-madagascar-distro/tree/main/configs/plugins) ---
**Author:** ![ptk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d07c76/32.png) [@ptk](https://talk.openelis-global.org/u/ptk)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 1:23pm UTC](https://talk.openelis-global.org/t/how-to-do-bi-directional-fhir-synchronization-between-openlisglobal-webapp-and-external-fhir-api/2398/5 "2026-08-31T13:23:43Z")
It seem like I was able to bootstrap the OpenELIS with those binaries. Can analyzer query OpenELIS for the order by lab/accession/barcode using HL7v2? ---
**Author:** ![njiddasalifu](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.openelis-global.org/njiddasalifu/32/411_2.png) [@njiddasalifu](https://talk.openelis-global.org/u/njiddasalifu)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2026, 5:01pm UTC](https://talk.openelis-global.org/t/how-to-do-bi-directional-fhir-synchronization-between-openlisglobal-webapp-and-external-fhir-api/2398/6 "2026-09-10T17:01:32Z")
Hi @ptk are you able to sort out your way ? ---
**Author:** ![ptk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d07c76/32.png) [@ptk](https://talk.openelis-global.org/u/ptk)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://talk.openelis-global.org/t/how-to-do-bi-directional-fhir-synchronization-between-openlisglobal-webapp-and-external-fhir-api/2398/7 "2026-09-10T17:45:23Z")
Not really, I tried to query using HL7 v2 and it didn’t work. I will probably do query using FHIR and try to submit results using HL7 v2. It doesn’t feel like a clean solution but it is okay for now. Ideally it would be nice to have full end-to-end protocol support. It would also drive more interest from other locations and developers. ---
**Author:** ![Moses\_Mutesasira](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/talk.openelis-global.org/moses_mutesasira/32/72_2.png) [@Moses\_Mutesasira](https://talk.openelis-global.org/u/Moses_Mutesasira)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 8:00am UTC](https://talk.openelis-global.org/t/how-to-do-bi-directional-fhir-synchronization-between-openlisglobal-webapp-and-external-fhir-api/2398/8 "2026-09-16T08:00:32Z")
> [@ptk](#): > > Ideally it would be nice to have full end-to-end protocol support. It would also drive more interest from other locations and developers. Thanks @ptk . We in the process of supporting a full end to end protocal and i gues this should be ready in the upcoming realese. cc @Piotr_Wargulak