---
title: "Find or Get Patient"
description: "Find an existing patient and choose the correct patient_id for appointments, notes, and documents."
canonical_url: "http://localhost/api/quickstart/find-patient"
---
# Find or Get Patient

> Find an existing patient and choose the correct patient_id for appointments, notes, and documents.

Use this guide to find an existing patient and choose the correct `patient_id` for follow-up requests like appointments, medical notes, and documents.

<u-alert color="primary" icon="heroicons:key" variant="subtle">
<template v-slot:description="">

This guide requires `care_unit_id` from step 1 in [Show Doctor's Availability](http://localhost/api/quickstart/show-availability) before running patient lookup requests.

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</u-alert>

## Flow Overview

![Find Patient Flow](http://localhost/images/quickstart/find-patient.png)

## Code Example

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<template v-slot:content="">
<code-lang-tabs>
<template v-slot:python="">

```python
import requests

CLIENT_ID = "your-client-id"
CLIENT_SECRET = "your-client-secret"
BASE_URL = "https://api.leyr.io/api"
EMR = "webdoc"

headers = {
    "x-leyr-client-id": CLIENT_ID,
    "x-leyr-client-secret": CLIENT_SECRET,
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

care_unit_id = "L0_1"

# 1. Lookup patients by demographics
response = requests.get(
    f"{BASE_URL}/emrs/{EMR}/care-units/{care_unit_id}/patients",
    headers=headers,
    params={
        "first_name": "Tolvan",
        "last_name": "Tolvansson"
    }
)
patients = response.json()

patient = patients[0]
print(f"Found patient Leyr ID: {patient['id']}")
print(f"EHR ID: {patient.get('emr_id')}")

# 2. Get one patient using patient_id
patient_id = f"emr_id:{patient['emr_id']}"
response = requests.get(
    f"{BASE_URL}/emrs/{EMR}/care-units/{care_unit_id}/patients/{patient_id}",
    headers=headers
)
patient_details = response.json()

print("✓ Patient loaded")
print(f"Name: {patient_details.get('first_name')} {patient_details.get('last_name')}")
print(f"Care Unit ID: {patient_details.get('care_unit_id')}")
```

</template>

<template v-slot:javascript="">

```javascript
const CLIENT_ID = "your-client-id";
const CLIENT_SECRET = "your-client-secret";
const BASE_URL = "https://api.leyr.io/api";
const EMR = "webdoc";

const headers = {
  "x-leyr-client-id": CLIENT_ID,
  "x-leyr-client-secret": CLIENT_SECRET,
  "Content-Type": "application/json"
};

const careUnitId = "L0_1";

// 1. Lookup patients by demographics
let response = await fetch(
  `${BASE_URL}/emrs/${EMR}/care-units/${careUnitId}/patients?first_name=Tolvan&last_name=Tolvansson`,
  { headers }
);
const patients = await response.json();

const patient = patients[0];
console.log(`Found patient Leyr ID: ${patient.id}`);
console.log(`EHR ID: ${patient.emr_id}`);

// 2. Get one patient using patient_id
const patientId = `emr_id:${patient.emr_id}`;
response = await fetch(
  `${BASE_URL}/emrs/${EMR}/care-units/${careUnitId}/patients/${patientId}`,
  { headers }
);
const patientDetails = await response.json();

console.log("✓ Patient loaded");
console.log(`Name: ${patientDetails.first_name} ${patientDetails.last_name}`);
console.log(`Care Unit ID: ${patientDetails.care_unit_id}`);
```

</template>
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</template>
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### Shared setup

<code-lang-tabs :items="[{"label":"Python","icon":"i-vscode-icons-file-type-python","slot":"python"},{"label":"JavaScript","icon":"i-vscode-icons-file-type-js-official","slot":"javascript"}]">
<template v-slot:python="">

```python
import requests

CLIENT_ID = "your-client-id"
CLIENT_SECRET = "your-client-secret"
BASE_URL = "https://api.leyr.io/api"
EMR = "webdoc"

headers = {
    "x-leyr-client-id": CLIENT_ID,
    "x-leyr-client-secret": CLIENT_SECRET,
    "Content-Type": "application/json"
}

care_unit_id = "L0_1"
```

</template>

<template v-slot:javascript="">

```javascript
const CLIENT_ID = "your-client-id";
const CLIENT_SECRET = "your-client-secret";
const BASE_URL = "https://api.leyr.io/api";
const EMR = "webdoc";

const headers = {
  "x-leyr-client-id": CLIENT_ID,
  "x-leyr-client-secret": CLIENT_SECRET,
  "Content-Type": "application/json"
};

const careUnitId = "L0_1";
```

</template>
</code-lang-tabs>

#### 1. Lookup patients by demographics

<code-lang-tabs :items="[{"label":"Python","icon":"i-vscode-icons-file-type-python","slot":"python"},{"label":"JavaScript","icon":"i-vscode-icons-file-type-js-official","slot":"javascript"}]">
<template v-slot:python="">

```python
response = requests.get(
    f"{BASE_URL}/emrs/{EMR}/care-units/{care_unit_id}/patients",
    headers=headers,
    params={
        "first_name": "Tolvan",
        "last_name": "Tolvansson"
    }
)
patients = response.json()

patient = patients[0]
print(f"Found patient Leyr ID: {patient['id']}")
print(f"EHR ID: {patient.get('emr_id')}")
```

</template>

<template v-slot:javascript="">

```javascript
let response = await fetch(
  `${BASE_URL}/emrs/${EMR}/care-units/${careUnitId}/patients?first_name=Tolvan&last_name=Tolvansson`,
  { headers }
);
const patients = await response.json();

const patient = patients[0];
console.log(`Found patient Leyr ID: ${patient.id}`);
console.log(`EHR ID: ${patient.emr_id}`);
```

</template>
</code-lang-tabs>

#### 2. Get one patient using `patient_id`

<code-lang-tabs :items="[{"label":"Python","icon":"i-vscode-icons-file-type-python","slot":"python"},{"label":"JavaScript","icon":"i-vscode-icons-file-type-js-official","slot":"javascript"}]">
<template v-slot:python="">

```python
patient_id = f"emr_id:{patient['emr_id']}"
response = requests.get(
    f"{BASE_URL}/emrs/{EMR}/care-units/{care_unit_id}/patients/{patient_id}",
    headers=headers
)
patient_details = response.json()

print("✓ Patient loaded")
print(f"Name: {patient_details.get('first_name')} {patient_details.get('last_name')}")
print(f"Care Unit ID: {patient_details.get('care_unit_id')}")
```

</template>

<template v-slot:javascript="">

```javascript
const patientId = `emr_id:${patient.emr_id}`;
response = await fetch(
  `${BASE_URL}/emrs/${EMR}/care-units/${careUnitId}/patients/${patientId}`,
  { headers }
);
const patientDetails = await response.json();

console.log("✓ Patient loaded");
console.log(`Name: ${patientDetails.first_name} ${patientDetails.last_name}`);
console.log(`Care Unit ID: ${patientDetails.care_unit_id}`);
```

</template>
</code-lang-tabs>

## patient_id formats

The `patient_id` path parameter supports multiple formats:

- `abc_12345` (treated as EHR ID)
- `emr_id:abc_12345`
- `se_personal_number:191212121212`
- `no_personal_number:26258605879`
- `nhs_number:9434765919`

For full details, see [Patient IDs](http://localhost/api/guides/patient-id).

## Key Insights

- For patient-specific endpoints, use supported `patient_id` formats (`emr_id:*`, `se_personal_number:*`, etc.).
- Keep both `id` (Leyr) and `emr_id` (EHR) for traceability and support workflows.
- Use the Patients OpenAPI tag for request/response schema details when building UI mappings.

## Next steps

<card-group>
<card icon="i-heroicons-user-plus" title="Create Patient" to="http://localhost/api/quickstart/create-patient">

Create or upsert a patient record.

</card>

<card icon="i-heroicons-calendar-days" title="Book an Appointment" to="http://localhost/api/quickstart/book-appointment">

Create appointments using a found timeslot and a patient.

</card>
</card-group>

## API Reference

- [Patients API](https://api.leyr.io/docs#tag/Patients)
- [Patient ID Guide](http://localhost/api/guides/patient-id)


## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](http://localhost/sitemap.md) for all pages.