The FHIR GraphQL API allows you to query and retrieve FHIR resources using GraphQL syntax, enabling precise data fetching with a single request. Unlike traditional REST endpoints that return fixed resource structures, GraphQL lets clients specify exactly which fields and related resources they need, reducing over-fetching and minimizing network round trips.

## Use Cases:

- **Efficient data loading**: Fetch a patient along with their conditions, medications, and recent encounters in a single query instead of multiple REST calls
- **Mobile and web applications**: Minimize bandwidth usage by requesting only the fields needed for specific UI components
- **Complex data relationships**: Navigate FHIR references and retrieve nested resources (e.g., Patient → Encounters → Practitioners) in one request
- **API exploration**: Use GraphQL introspection to discover available FHIR resources and their fields programmatically

Medplum provides a GraphQL API based on the [FHIR GraphQL](https://hl7.org/fhir/graphql.html) draft specification.

Check out our [FHIR GraphQL Guide](/content/docs/graphql/index.html) for an in depth explanation of how to leverage the FHIR GraphQL API.