Search codes and drugs by meaning
GET /v1/search
GET https://api.healthcare.dev/v1/searchFinds codes and drugs from plain-language descriptions, even when the words differ from the official text (diabetes with kidney disease finds E11.22, Type 2 diabetes mellitus with diabetic chronic kidney disease). Searches ICD-10-CM, ICD-10-PCS, HCPCS Level II, RxNorm and NDC products together, or the systems in system. Each result has a match_score (0 to 1; an exact code or id is 1 and always ranks first), a short reason saying why it matched, and, on the first result when the top results are close but from different code families, did_you_mean with the alternatives. Ranking blends closeness in meaning with the query words the text contains; it is computed from stored data, with no external service involved. Returns up to the best 100 matches per system. Builder plan and up; other plans get 403 plan-upgrade-required.
Requires an API key: Authorization: Bearer hdev_live_.... See Authentication.
Query parameters
| Name | Type | Required | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
q | string | yes | What you're looking for, in plain words or a code | diabetes with kidney disease |
limit | integer | no | Page size (max 100) | 25 |
cursor | string | no | Opaque cursor from links.next | |
system | string | no | Only these systems, comma-separated: icd10cm, icd10pcs, hcpcs, rxnorm, ndc (default all) | icd10cm |
view | "compact" | "full" | no | compact returns only the fields an agent usually needs (fewer tokens); full (default) returns every field | compact |
fields | string | no | Comma-separated record fields to return, e.g. code,display,billable | code,display,billable |
Examples
curl
curl "https://api.healthcare.dev/v1/search?q=diabetes+with+kidney+disease&limit=25" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $HDEV_API_KEY"TypeScript
const res = await fetch("https://api.healthcare.dev/v1/search?q=diabetes+with+kidney+disease&limit=25", {
headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.HDEV_API_KEY}` },
});
const { data, meta } = await res.json();Python
import os
import requests
res = requests.get("https://api.healthcare.dev/v1/search?q=diabetes+with+kidney+disease&limit=25", headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['HDEV_API_KEY']}"})
body = res.json()Try it
Response
Results, best first
{
"data": [
{
"system": "icd10cm",
"code": "string",
"display": "string",
"status": "string",
"href": "string",
"match_score": 0,
"reason": "string",
"did_you_mean": [
{
"system": null,
"code": null,
"display": null
}
],
"record": {
"system": "icd10cm",
"code": "E11.9",
"display": "Type 2 diabetes mellitus without complications",
"description": "Type 2 diabetes mellitus without complications",
"billable": true,
"parent": "E11",
"attributes": {},
"status": "active",
"effective_start": "2015-10-01",
"effective_end": null,
"replaced_by": []
}
}
],
"meta": {
"source": "cms-icd10",
"data_version": "2026.1",
"retrieved_at": "2026-10-24T12:00:00Z",
"license": "Public domain (CMS). Reference data, not medical advice."
},
"links": {
"self": "/v1/search?q=diabetes+with+kidney+disease&limit=25",
"next": "/v1/search?q=diabetes+with+kidney+disease&limit=25&cursor=eyJrIjoiRTExLjkifQ"
}
}Fields
| Field | Type | Always present | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
system | SearchSystem | yes | |
code | string | yes | The code (icd10cm, icd10pcs, hcpcs), RxCUI (rxnorm) or product NDC (ndc) |
display | string | yes | Description or drug name |
status | string | yes | active (retired records are not searched by meaning) |
href | string | yes | Lookup path for the full record, e.g. /v1/codes/icd10cm/E11.22 |
match_score | number | yes | How well this result matches the query, 0 to 1: 1 is an exact code or id, 0.9 a code prefix; otherwise a blend of closeness in meaning and the query words the text contains (see reason). Below 0.5, check the result before relying on it. |
reason | string | yes | Why it matched, in a few words, e.g. matches "kidney" in the description; close in meaning to "diabetes" |
did_you_mean | SearchAlternative[] | no | On the first result only, when the query is ambiguous: the top results are close in score but from different code families. The best match of each other family; narrow the query or pass system to choose. |
record | no | The full record (view=full, the default) |
Errors
Errors are application/problem+json (RFC 9457). Branch on type, not on title. See Errors.
| Status | type | When |
|---|---|---|
| 400 | invalid-request | A parameter or the body failed validation; errors lists each field. |
| 401 | unauthorized | Missing, malformed or revoked API key. |
| 403 | plan-upgrade-required | The plan doesn't include this feature; required_plan names the plan that does. |
| 404 | not-found | No record with that id (retired records are still returned). |
| 429 | rate-limited / quota-exceeded | Too many requests per second (retry after Retry-After), or the monthly quota is used up. |
| 503 | dataset-unavailable / unavailable | The dataset has no published version yet, or the service is degraded. |