Skip to main content
Consents track patient agreements to privacy policies, treatment plans, research participation, and advance directives. The FHIR R4 Consent resource stores what the patient agreed to, when, under what provisions, and the current status of that agreement. Consents are linked to a patient and optionally to a performer (the practitioner who witnessed or recorded the consent). Use clinik.consents.sign to record a patient’s agreement: 
// HIPAA privacy notice
const { data: hipaa } = await clinik.consents.sign({
  patientId: 'pt_abc123',
  status: 'active',
  scope: 'patient-privacy',
  category: 'hipaa-notice',
  policyUri: 'https://clinic.com/hipaa-notice',
  verification: {
    verified: true,
    verifiedWith: 'pt_abc123',
    verificationDate: '2025-01-15T10:00:00Z',
  },
});

// Treatment consent with a time-limited provision
const { data: treatment } = await clinik.consents.sign({
  patientId: 'pt_abc123',
  status: 'active',
  scope: 'treatment',
  category: ['treatment-consent', 'surgical-consent'],
  performerId: 'prac_def456',
  organizationId: 'org_ghi789',
  provision: {
    type: 'permit',
    period: {
      start: '2025-01-15',
      end: '2025-07-15',
    },
    purpose: [
      { code: 'TREAT', display: 'Treatment' },
    ],
  },
});
ScopeDescriptionExamples
patient-privacyPrivacy and data sharingHIPAA notice, data sharing agreement
treatmentTreatment authorizationSurgical consent, procedure consent
researchResearch participationClinical trial enrollment
adrAdvance directiveLiving will, DNR

​
Status lifecycle

draft → proposed → active → inactive
               ↘ rejected
StatusDescription
draftBeing prepared
proposedPresented to patient
activePatient has agreed
rejectedPatient declined
inactiveWithdrawn or expired
const { data: consent } = await clinik.consents.read('consent_abc123');
Set status: 'inactive' to record that a patient has withdrawn consent: 
await clinik.consents.update('consent_abc123', {
  status: 'inactive',
});

await clinik.consents.delete('consent_abc123');
Deleting a consent record removes audit evidence that the patient agreed. Prefer setting status: 'inactive' over deletion to maintain a record trail.

​
Provisions

Provisions define exactly what is permitted or denied under the consent. Use type: 'permit' to explicitly allow actions, and type: 'deny' to prohibit specific uses: 
// Permit data sharing for treatment and payment only
provision: {
  type: 'permit',
  period: { start: '2025-01-01', end: '2025-12-31' },
  purpose: [
    { code: 'TREAT', display: 'Treatment' },
    { code: 'HPAYMT', display: 'Healthcare Payment' },
  ],
  action: [
    { code: 'access', display: 'Access' },
    { code: 'use', display: 'Use' },
  ],
}

// Deny use of data for research
provision: {
  type: 'deny',
  purpose: [
    { code: 'HRESCH', display: 'Healthcare Research' },
  ],
}

​
Search consents

const { data } = await clinik.consents.search({
  patientId: 'pt_abc123',
  status: 'active',
});