Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about the Meducate medical data API.
What is Meducate API?
Meducate API is a medical data REST API that provides structured, ICD-10 classified health topic data for developers. It aggregates information from trusted sources — MedlinePlus and PubMed — processes it using large language models, and delivers it as consistent, developer-friendly JSON.
Whether you're building a health app, EHR integration, symptom checker, or medical reference tool, Meducate gives you clean, categorised medical data without the complexity of parsing raw source material yourself.
What is ICD-10 and how does the API use it?
ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision) is the global standard system for classifying medical conditions and diseases, maintained by the World Health Organization. It's used by hospitals, insurers, EHR systems, and healthcare regulators worldwide.
Meducate uses ICD-10 chapter categories to automatically classify every health topic. This means you can filter and group data by body system (Respiratory, Circulatory, Digestive) or condition category (Infectious & Parasitic, Neoplasms, Mental & Behavioral) in a way that integrates naturally with existing healthcare infrastructure.
Is Meducate API free?
Yes. Meducate API is free to use. Register for an account and you receive 1,000 requests per day at no cost. No credit card is required to get started.
How do I authenticate API requests?
All API requests require an X-Api-Key header containing your API key:
X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY
You generate API keys from your dashboard after registering and creating an organisation. Keep your key secure and never expose it in client-side code.
What are the rate limits?
- 1,000 requests per day per API key
- Usage resets at midnight UTC
- Requests exceeding the limit receive a
429 Too Many Requestsresponse - You can create up to 5 API keys per organisation
What data formats does the API return?
All API responses are JSON. Each health topic includes:
- Topic name and description
- ICD-10 category (e.g. Respiratory System, Mental & Behavioral)
- Topic type (Disease, Drug, Procedure, Symptom, etc.)
- Structured summary synthesised from multiple sources
Where does the medical data come from?
Data originates from MedlinePlus, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's health information service covering over 2,000 health topics. It is supplemented with research context from PubMed, the NLM's peer-reviewed biomedical literature database.
A topic only appears in Meducate if it is listed on MedlinePlus. All data is processed daily and topics removed from the source are automatically retired from the API.
How often is the data updated?
Meducate runs automated background jobs daily to discover new topics, refresh existing data, and regenerate structured summaries. API responses always serve the latest processed dataset.
Can I use Meducate API for clinical decision-making?
No. Meducate API is for educational and informational use only. It does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment recommendations. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for clinical decisions.
What endpoints are available?
Meducate API provides endpoints to:
- Search health topics by keyword
- Retrieve a specific topic by name
- Filter topics by ICD-10 category or topic type
See the full endpoint reference for request parameters, response schemas, and interactive examples.
Have a question not answered here? See the documentation or create a free account to get started.