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Component overview

Info Gateway

A reverse proxy enforcing granular role-based access control and SMART-on-FHIR authorization policies.

What it is​

Preserving patient data privacy and enforcing organizational access policies are critical requirements when deploying digital health systems.

Info Gateway is a standalone reverse proxy deployed between client applications and FHIR storage backends. It evaluates incoming HTTP requests against organizational role-based access control (RBAC) rules before routing them to the upstream FHIR server.

Architecture diagram of Info Gateway acting as a reverse proxy between mobile client apps, SMART on FHIR tools, identity providers, and the central FHIR server.

Core capabilities​

  • Authentication integration works alongside any OpenID Connect compliant Identity Provider (such as Keycloak) and OAuth2 authorization server.
  • Granular access control inspects FHIR REST URLs and query parameters to verify that the authenticated user possesses the permissions required for that specific clinical resource or search scope.
  • Pluggable access checkers allow engineering teams to write custom authorization interceptors and business validation logic.
  • Query filtering and safety policies enable administrators to restrict expensive search queries, disable unauthorized joins, or block full-table scans.
  • Mobile sync partitioning limits the scope of patient records downloaded to frontline mobile devices based on practitioner assignments or health facility boundaries.
  • SMART-on-FHIR support enables third-party clinical apps to connect into the digital health architecture safely without direct database access.

Architecture​

Info Gateway sits directly in the request path between clients and the FHIR backend.

┌─────────────────────────────────┐
│  Frontline Client / SMART Apps  │
└─────────────────────────────────┘
                 │
                 ▼  (Authenticated HTTPS Request)
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  INFO GATEWAY                   │
│  ┌───────────────────┐  ┌────────────────────┐  │
│  │ Token Validation  │  │ Access Checkers    │  │
│  │ (Keycloak / OIDC) │  │ & Query Filters    │  │
│  └───────────────────┘  └────────────────────┘  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                 │
                 ▼  (Authorized FHIR Request)
┌─────────────────────────────────┐
│  FHIR Server (HAPI / Cloud)     │
└─────────────────────────────────┘

When a request arrives, processing proceeds through three steps.

  1. Identity verification where Info Gateway validates the client bearer token against the configured OpenID Connect identity provider.
  2. Policy evaluation where the access checkers examine the HTTP method, FHIR resource type, query parameters, and patient compartment boundaries.
  3. Upstream routing where authorized requests are proxied to the upstream FHIR endpoint and unauthorized requests receive an HTTP 401 or 403 response.

Tested environments​

Info Gateway is tested and compatible with standard FHIR R4 servers including HAPI FHIR JPA server, cloud healthcare FHIR endpoints, and standard compliant FHIR REST services.

Next steps​