Nepal HMIS FHIR Implementation Guide – 🚨 DRAFT VERSION
0.0.1-ballot - ci-build

Nepal HMIS FHIR Implementation Guide – 🚨 DRAFT VERSION - Local Development build (v0.0.1-ballot) built by the FHIR (HL7® FHIR® Standard) Build Tools. See the Directory of published versions

## Resource Profile: NPCorePatientProfile - Detailed Descriptions

Active as of 2025-09-08

Definitions for the np-core-patient resource profile.

- Key Elements Table
- Differential Elements Table
- Snapshot Elements Table

Guidance on how to interpret the contents of this table can be foundhere

0. Patient
Definition | Demographics and other administrative information about an individual or animal receiving care or other health-related services.
Short | Information about an individual or animal receiving health care services
Control | 0..*
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Alternate Names | SubjectOfCare Client Resident
Invariants | dom-2: If the resource is contained in another resource, it SHALL NOT contain nested Resources (contained.contained.empty()) dom-3: If the resource is contained in another resource, it SHALL be referred to from elsewhere in the resource or SHALL refer to the containing resource (contained.where((('#'+id in (%resource.descendants().reference | %resource.descendants().ofType(canonical) | %resource.descendants().ofType(uri) | %resource.descendants().ofType(url))) or descendants().where(reference = '#').exists() or descendants().where(ofType(canonical) = '#').exists() or descendants().where(ofType(canonical) = '#').exists()).not()).trace('unmatched', id).empty()) dom-4: If a resource is contained in another resource, it SHALL NOT have a meta.versionId or a meta.lastUpdated (contained.meta.versionId.empty() and contained.meta.lastUpdated.empty()) dom-5: If a resource is contained in another resource, it SHALL NOT have a security label (contained.meta.security.empty()) dom-6: A resource should have narrative for robust management (text.`div`.exists())
2. Patient.implicitRules
Definition | A reference to a set of rules that were followed when the resource was constructed, and which must be understood when processing the content. Often, this is a reference to an implementation guide that defines the special rules along with other profiles etc.
Short | A set of rules under which this content was created
Comments | Asserting this rule set restricts the content to be only understood by a limited set of trading partners. This inherently limits the usefulness of the data in the long term. However, the existing health eco-system is highly fractured, and not yet ready to define, collect, and exchange data in a generally computable sense. Wherever possible, implementers and/or specification writers should avoid using this element. Often, when used, the URL is a reference to an implementation guide that defines these special rules as part of its narrative along with other profiles, value sets, etc.
Control | 0..1
Type | uri
Is Modifier | true because This element is labeled as a modifier because the implicit rules may provide additional knowledge about the resource that modifies its meaning or interpretation
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
4. Patient.contained
Definition | These resources do not have an independent existence apart from the resource that contains them - they cannot be identified independently, nor can they have their own independent transaction scope. This is allowed to be a Parameters resource if and only if it is referenced by a resource that provides context/meaning.
Short | Contained, inline Resources
Comments | This should never be done when the content can be identified properly, as once identification is lost, it is extremely difficult (and context dependent) to restore it again. Contained resources may have profiles and tags in their meta elements, but SHALL NOT have security labels.
Control | 0..* This element is affected by the following invariants: dom-2, dom-4, dom-3, dom-5
Type | Resource
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Alternate Names | inline resources, anonymous resources, contained resources
6. Patient.extension
Definition | An Extension May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the resource. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension.
Short | ExtensionAdditional content defined by implementations
Comments | There can be no stigma associated with the use of extensions by any application, project, or standard - regardless of the institution or jurisdiction that uses or defines the extensions. The use of extensions is what allows the FHIR specification to retain a core level of simplicity for everyone.
Control | 0..*
Type | Extension
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Alternate Names | extensions, user content
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())) ext-1: Must have either extensions or value[x], not both (extension.exists() != value.exists())
Slicing | This element introduces a set of slices on `Patient.extension`. The slices areUnordered and Open, and can be differentiated using the following discriminators: value @ url
8. Patient.extension:ethnicCode
Slice Name | ethnicCode
Definition | Extension to capture जाति कोड (ethnicity) based on Nepali classification
Short | Ethnic Code
Control | 0..1
Type | Extension(Ethnic Code) (Extension Type: Coding)
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())) ext-1: Must have either extensions or value[x], not both (extension.exists() != value.exists())
10. Patient.modifierExtension
Definition | May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the resource and that modifies the understanding of the element that contains it and/or the understanding of the containing element's descendants. Usually modifier elements provide negation or qualification. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer is allowed to define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension. Applications processing a resource are required to check for modifier extensions. Modifier extensions SHALL NOT change the meaning of any elements on Resource or DomainResource (including cannot change the meaning of modifierExtension itself).
Short | Extensions that cannot be ignored
Comments | There can be no stigma associated with the use of extensions by any application, project, or standard - regardless of the institution or jurisdiction that uses or defines the extensions. The use of extensions is what allows the FHIR specification to retain a core level of simplicity for everyone.
Control | 0..*
Type | Extension
Is Modifier | true because Modifier extensions are expected to modify the meaning or interpretation of the resource that contains them
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Modifier extensions allow for extensions that cannot be safely ignored to be clearly distinguished from the vast majority of extensions which can be safely ignored. This promotes interoperability by eliminating the need for implementers to prohibit the presence of extensions. For further information, see the definition of modifier extensions.
Alternate Names | extensions, user content
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())) ext-1: Must have either extensions or value[x], not both (extension.exists() != value.exists())
12. Patient.identifier
Definition | An identifier for this patient.
Short | An identifier for this patient
Note | This is a business identifier, not a resource identifier (see discussion)
Control | 10..4*
Type | Identifier
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Patients are almost always assigned specific numerical identifiers.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
Slicing | This element introduces a set of slices on `Patient.identifier`. The slices areUnordered and Open, and can be differentiated using the following discriminators: value @ system
14. Patient.identifier:NationalID
Slice Name | NationalID
Definition | An identifier for this patient.
Short | An identifier for this patient
Note | This is a business identifier, not a resource identifier (see discussion)
Control | 0..1*
Type | Identifier
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Patients are almost always assigned specific numerical identifiers.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
16. Patient.identifier:HealthID
Slice Name | HealthID
Definition | An identifier for this patient.
Short | An identifier for this patient
Note | This is a business identifier, not a resource identifier (see discussion)
Control | 0..1*
Type | Identifier
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Patients are almost always assigned specific numerical identifiers.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
18. Patient.identifier:SystemID
Slice Name | SystemID
Definition | An identifier for this patient.
Short | An identifier for this patient
Note | This is a business identifier, not a resource identifier (see discussion)
Control | 0..1*
Type | Identifier
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Patients are almost always assigned specific numerical identifiers.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
20. Patient.identifier:MasterID
Slice Name | MasterID
Definition | An identifier for this patient.
Short | An identifier for this patient
Note | This is a business identifier, not a resource identifier (see discussion)
Control | 0..1*
Type | Identifier
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Patients are almost always assigned specific numerical identifiers.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
22. Patient.active
Definition | Whether this patient record is in active use. Many systems use this property to mark as non-current patients, such as those that have not been seen for a period of time based on an organization's business rules. It is often used to filter patient lists to exclude inactive patients Deceased patients may also be marked as inactive for the same reasons, but may be active for some time after death.
Short | Whether this patient's record is in active use
Comments | If a record is inactive, and linked to an active record, then future patient/record updates should occur on the other patient.
Control | 0..1
Type | boolean
Is Modifier | true because This element is labelled as a modifier because it is a status element that can indicate that a record should not be treated as valid
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Need to be able to mark a patient record as not to be used because it was created in error.
Meaning if Missing | This resource is generally assumed to be active if no value is provided for the active element
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
24. Patient.name
Definition | A name associated with the individual.
Short | A name associated with the patient
Comments | A patient may have multiple names with different uses or applicable periods. For animals, the name is a "HumanName" in the sense that is assigned and used by humans and has the same patterns. Animal names may be communicated as given names, and optionally may include a family name.
Control | 10..1*
Type | HumanName
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Need to be able to track the patient by multiple names. Examples are your official name and a partner name.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
26. Patient.name.use
Definition | Identifies the purpose for this name.
Short | usual | official | temp | nickname | anonymous | old | maiden
Comments | Applications can assume that a name is current unless it explicitly says that it is temporary or old.
Control | 10..1
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from NameUse http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/name-use|5.0.0 (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/name-use|5.0.0` ) The use of a human name.
Type | code
Is Modifier | true because This is labeled as "Is Modifier" because applications should not mistake a temporary or old name etc.for a current/permanent one
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Requirements | Allows the appropriate name for a particular context of use to be selected from among a set of names.
Pattern Value | `official`
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
28. Patient.name.text
Definition | Specifies the entire name as it should be displayed e.g. on an application UI. This may be provided instead of or as well as the specific parts.
Short | Text representation of the full name
Comments | Can provide both a text representation and parts. Applications updating a name SHALL ensure that when both text and parts are present, no content is included in the text that isn't found in a part.
Control | 10..1
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Requirements | A renderable, unencoded form.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
30. Patient.name.family
Definition | The part of a name that links to the genealogy. In some cultures (e.g. Eritrea) the family name of a son is the first name of his father.
Short | Family name (often called 'Surname')
Comments | Family Name may be decomposed into specific parts using extensions (de, nl, es related cultures).
Control | 10..1
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Alternate Names | surname
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
32. Patient.name.given
Definition | Given name.
Short | Given names (not always 'first'). Includes middle names
Comments | If only initials are recorded, they may be used in place of the full name parts. Initials may be separated into multiple given names but often aren't due to paractical limitations. This element is not called "first name" since given names do not always come first.
Control | 10..*
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Alternate Names | first name, middle name
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
34. Patient.telecom
Definition | A contact detail (e.g. a telephone number or an email address) by which the individual may be contacted.
Short | A contact detail for the individual
Comments | A Patient may have multiple ways to be contacted with different uses or applicable periods. May need to have options for contacting the person urgently and also to help with identification. The address might not go directly to the individual, but may reach another party that is able to proxy for the patient (i.e. home phone, or pet owner's phone).
Control | 0..1*
Type | ContactPoint
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | People have (primary) ways to contact them in some way such as phone, email.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
Slicing | This element introduces a set of slices on `Patient.telecom`. The slices areUnordered and Open, and can be differentiated using the following discriminators: value @ system
36. Patient.telecom:Phone
Slice Name | Phone
Definition | A contact detail (e.g. a telephone number or an email address) by which the individual may be contacted.
Short | A contact detail for the individual
Comments | A Patient may have multiple ways to be contacted with different uses or applicable periods. May need to have options for contacting the person urgently and also to help with identification. The address might not go directly to the individual, but may reach another party that is able to proxy for the patient (i.e. home phone, or pet owner's phone).
Control | 0..1*
Type | ContactPoint
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | People have (primary) ways to contact them in some way such as phone, email.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
38. Patient.telecom:Phone.system
Definition | Telecommunications form for contact point - what communications system is required to make use of the contact.
Short | phone | fax | email | pager | url | sms | other
Control | 10..1 This element is affected by the following invariants: cpt-2
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from ContactPointSystem http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/contact-point-system|5.0.0 (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/contact-point-system|5.0.0` ) Telecommunications form for contact point.
Type | code
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Pattern Value | `phone`
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
40. Patient.telecom:Phone.use
Definition | Identifies the purpose for the contact point.
Short | home | work | temp | old | mobile - purpose of this contact point
Comments | Applications can assume that a contact is current unless it explicitly says that it is temporary or old.
Control | 0..1
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from ContactPointUse http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/contact-point-use|5.0.0 (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/contact-point-use|5.0.0` ) Use of contact point.
Type | code
Is Modifier | true because This is labeled as "Is Modifier" because applications should not mistake a temporary or old contact etc.for a current/permanent one
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Requirements | Need to track the way a person uses this contact, so a user can choose which is appropriate for their purpose.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
42. Patient.telecom:Email
Slice Name | Email
Definition | A contact detail (e.g. a telephone number or an email address) by which the individual may be contacted.
Short | A contact detail for the individual
Comments | A Patient may have multiple ways to be contacted with different uses or applicable periods. May need to have options for contacting the person urgently and also to help with identification. The address might not go directly to the individual, but may reach another party that is able to proxy for the patient (i.e. home phone, or pet owner's phone).
Control | 0..1*
Type | ContactPoint
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | People have (primary) ways to contact them in some way such as phone, email.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
44. Patient.telecom:Email.system
Definition | Telecommunications form for contact point - what communications system is required to make use of the contact.
Short | phone | fax | email | pager | url | sms | other
Control | 10..1 This element is affected by the following invariants: cpt-2
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from ContactPointSystem http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/contact-point-system|5.0.0 (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/contact-point-system|5.0.0` ) Telecommunications form for contact point.
Type | code
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Pattern Value | `email`
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
46. Patient.telecom:Email.use
Definition | Identifies the purpose for the contact point.
Short | home | work | temp | old | mobile - purpose of this contact point
Comments | Applications can assume that a contact is current unless it explicitly says that it is temporary or old.
Control | 0..1
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from ContactPointUse http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/contact-point-use|5.0.0 (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/contact-point-use|5.0.0` ) Use of contact point.
Type | code
Is Modifier | true because This is labeled as "Is Modifier" because applications should not mistake a temporary or old contact etc.for a current/permanent one
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Requirements | Need to track the way a person uses this contact, so a user can choose which is appropriate for their purpose.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
48. Patient.gender
Definition | Administrative Gender - the gender that the patient is considered to have for administration and record keeping purposes.
Short | male | female | other | unknown
Comments | The gender might not match the biological sex as determined by genetics or the individual's preferred identification. Note that for both humans and particularly animals, there are other legitimate possibilities than male and female, though the vast majority of systems and contexts only support male and female. Systems providing decision support or enforcing business rules should ideally do this on the basis of Observations dealing with the specific sex or gender aspect of interest (anatomical, chromosomal, social, etc.) However, because these observations are infrequently recorded, defaulting to the administrative gender is common practice. Where such defaulting occurs, rule enforcement should allow for the variation between administrative and biological, chromosomal and other gender aspects. For example, an alert about a hysterectomy on a male should be handled as a warning or overridable error, not a "hard" error. See the Patient Gender and Sex section for additional information about communicating patient gender and sex.
Control | 10..1
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from AdministrativeGender http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/administrative-gender|5.0.0 (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/administrative-gender|5.0.0` ) The gender of a person used for administrative purposes.
Type | code
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Needed for identification of the individual, in combination with (at least) name and birth date.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
50. Patient.birthDate
Definition | The date of birth for the individual.
Short | The date of birth for the individual
Comments | Partial dates are allowed if the specific date of birth is unknown. There is a standard extension "patient-birthTime" available that should be used where Time is required (such as in maternity/infant care systems).
Control | 10..1
Type | date
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Age of the individual drives many clinical processes.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
LOINC Code | 21112-8
52. Patient.deceased[x]
Definition | Indicates if the individual is deceased or not.
Short | Indicates if the individual is deceased or not
Comments | If there's no value in the instance, it means there is no statement on whether or not the individual is deceased. Most systems will interpret the absence of a value as a sign of the person being alive.
Control | 0..1
Type | Choice of: boolean, dateTime
[x] Note | SeeChoice of Data Typesfor further information about how to use [x]
Is Modifier | true because This element is labeled as a modifier because once a patient is marked as deceased, the actions that are appropriate to perform on the patient may be significantly different.
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | The fact that a patient is deceased influences the clinical process. Also, in human communication and relation management it is necessary to know whether the person is alive.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
54. Patient.address
Definition | An address for the individual.
Short | An address for the individual
Comments | Patient may have multiple addresses with different uses or applicable periods.
Control | 0..1*
Type | Address
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | May need to keep track of patient addresses for contacting, billing or reporting requirements and also to help with identification.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
56. Patient.address.extension:nepalAddress
Slice Name | nepalAddress
Definition | Extension to represent coded and textual forms of Nepal's administrative divisions (Province, District, Municipality, Ward).
Short | Nepal Address
Control | 0..1
Type | Extension(Nepal Address) (Complex Extension)
Is Modifier | false
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`) ext-1: Must have either extensions or value[x], not both (`extension.exists() != value.exists()`)
58. Patient.address.use
Definition | The purpose of this address.
Short | home | work | temp | old | billing - purpose of this address
Comments | Applications can assume that an address is current unless it explicitly says that it is temporary or old.
Control | 0..1
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from AddressUse http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/address-use|5.0.0 (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/address-use|5.0.0` ) The use of an address (home / work / etc.).
Type | code
Is Modifier | true because This is labeled as "Is Modifier" because applications should not mistake a temporary or old address etc.for a current/permanent one
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Requirements | Allows an appropriate address to be chosen from a list of many.
Example | General: home
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
60. Patient.link
Definition | Link to a Patient or RelatedPerson resource that concerns the same actual individual.
Short | Link to a Patient or RelatedPerson resource that concerns the same actual individual
Comments | There is no assumption that linked patient records have mutual links.
Control | 0..*
Type | BackboneElement
Is Modifier | true because This element is labeled as a modifier because it might not be the main Patient resource, and the referenced patient should be used instead of this Patient record. This is when the link.type value is 'replaced-by'
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | There are multiple use cases: Duplicate patient records due to the clerical errors associated with the difficulties of identifying humans consistently, and Distribution of patient information across multiple servers.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
62. Patient.link.modifierExtension
Definition | May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element and that modifies the understanding of the element in which it is contained and/or the understanding of the containing element's descendants. Usually modifier elements provide negation or qualification. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension. Applications processing a resource are required to check for modifier extensions. Modifier extensions SHALL NOT change the meaning of any elements on Resource or DomainResource (including cannot change the meaning of modifierExtension itself).
Short | Extensions that cannot be ignored even if unrecognized
Comments | There can be no stigma associated with the use of extensions by any application, project, or standard - regardless of the institution or jurisdiction that uses or defines the extensions. The use of extensions is what allows the FHIR specification to retain a core level of simplicity for everyone.
Control | 0..*
Type | Extension
Is Modifier | true because Modifier extensions are expected to modify the meaning or interpretation of the element that contains them
Summary | true
Requirements | Modifier extensions allow for extensions that cannot be safely ignored to be clearly distinguished from the vast majority of extensions which can be safely ignored. This promotes interoperability by eliminating the need for implementers to prohibit the presence of extensions. For further information, see the definition of modifier extensions.
Alternate Names | extensions, user content, modifiers
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())) ext-1: Must have either extensions or value[x], not both (extension.exists() != value.exists())
64. Patient.link.other
Definition | Link to a Patient or RelatedPerson resource that concerns the same actual individual.
Short | The other patient or related person resource that the link refers to
Comments | Referencing a RelatedPerson here removes the need to use a Person record to associate a Patient and RelatedPerson as the same individual.
Control | 1..1
Type | Reference(Patient, RelatedPerson)
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))
66. Patient.link.type
Definition | The type of link between this patient resource and another patient resource.
Short | replaced-by | replaces | refer | seealso
Control | 1..1
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from LinkType http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/link-type|5.0.0 (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/link-type|5.0.0` ) The type of link between this patient resource and another Patient resource, or Patient/RelatedPerson when using the `seealso` code
Type | code
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count()))

Guidance on how to interpret the contents of this table can be foundhere

0. Patient
2. Patient.extension
Slicing | This element introduces a set of slices on `Patient.extension`. The slices areUnordered and Open, and can be differentiated using the following discriminators: value @ url
4. Patient.extension:ethnicCode
Slice Name | ethnicCode
Control | 0..1
Type | Extension(Ethnic Code) (Extension Type: Coding)
6. Patient.identifier
Note | This is a business identifier, not a resource identifier (see discussion)
Control | 1..4
Slicing | This element introduces a set of slices on `Patient.identifier`. The slices areUnordered and Open, and can be differentiated using the following discriminators: value @ system
8. Patient.identifier:NationalID
Slice Name | NationalID
Note | This is a business identifier, not a resource identifier (see discussion)
Control | 0..1
10. Patient.identifier:HealthID
Slice Name | HealthID
Note | This is a business identifier, not a resource identifier (see discussion)
Control | 0..1
12. Patient.identifier:SystemID
Slice Name | SystemID
Note | This is a business identifier, not a resource identifier (see discussion)
Control | 0..1
14. Patient.identifier:MasterID
Slice Name | MasterID
Note | This is a business identifier, not a resource identifier (see discussion)
Control | 0..1
16. Patient.name
Control | 1..1
18. Patient.name.use
Control | 1..?
Pattern Value | `official`
20. Patient.name.text
Control | 1..?
22. Patient.name.family
Control | 1..?
24. Patient.name.given
Control | 1..?
26. Patient.telecom
Control | 0..1
Slicing | This element introduces a set of slices on `Patient.telecom`. The slices areUnordered and Open, and can be differentiated using the following discriminators: value @ system
28. Patient.telecom:Phone
Slice Name | Phone
Control | 0..1
30. Patient.telecom:Phone.system
Control | 1..?
Pattern Value | `phone`
32. Patient.telecom:Email
Slice Name | Email
Control | 0..1
34. Patient.telecom:Email.system
Control | 1..?
Pattern Value | `email`
36. Patient.gender
Control | 1..?
38. Patient.birthDate
Control | 1..?
LOINC Code |
40. Patient.address
Control | 0..1
42. Patient.address.extension:nepalAddress
Slice Name | nepalAddress
Control | 0..1
Type | Extension(Nepal Address) (Complex Extension)

Guidance on how to interpret the contents of this table can be foundhere

0. Patient
Definition | Demographics and other administrative information about an individual or animal receiving care or other health-related services.
Short | Information about an individual or animal receiving health care services
Control | 0..*
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Alternate Names | SubjectOfCare Client Resident
Invariants | dom-2: If the resource is contained in another resource, it SHALL NOT contain nested Resources (`contained.contained.empty()`) dom-3: If the resource is contained in another resource, it SHALL be referred to from elsewhere in the resource or SHALL refer to the containing resource (`contained.where((('#'+id in (%resource.descendants().reference | %resource.descendants().ofType(canonical) | %resource.descendants().ofType(uri) | %resource.descendants().ofType(url))) or descendants().where(reference = '#').exists() or descendants().where(ofType(canonical) = '#').exists() or descendants().where(ofType(canonical) = '#').exists()).not()).trace('unmatched', id).empty()`) dom-4: If a resource is contained in another resource, it SHALL NOT have a meta.versionId or a meta.lastUpdated (`contained.meta.versionId.empty() and contained.meta.lastUpdated.empty()`) dom-5: If a resource is contained in another resource, it SHALL NOT have a security label (`contained.meta.security.empty()`) dom-6: A resource should have narrative for robust management (`text.`div`.exists()`)
2. Patient.id
Definition | The logical id of the resource, as used in the URL for the resource. Once assigned, this value never changes.
Short | Logical id of this artifact
Comments | Within the context of the FHIR RESTful interactions, the resource has an id except for cases like the create and conditional update. Otherwise, the use of the resouce id depends on the given use case.
Control | 0..1
Type | id
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
4. Patient.meta
Definition | The metadata about the resource. This is content that is maintained by the infrastructure. Changes to the content might not always be associated with version changes to the resource.
Short | Metadata about the resource
Control | 0..1
Type | Meta
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
6. Patient.implicitRules
Definition | A reference to a set of rules that were followed when the resource was constructed, and which must be understood when processing the content. Often, this is a reference to an implementation guide that defines the special rules along with other profiles etc.
Short | A set of rules under which this content was created
Comments | Asserting this rule set restricts the content to be only understood by a limited set of trading partners. This inherently limits the usefulness of the data in the long term. However, the existing health eco-system is highly fractured, and not yet ready to define, collect, and exchange data in a generally computable sense. Wherever possible, implementers and/or specification writers should avoid using this element. Often, when used, the URL is a reference to an implementation guide that defines these special rules as part of its narrative along with other profiles, value sets, etc.
Control | 0..1
Type | uri
Is Modifier | true because This element is labeled as a modifier because the implicit rules may provide additional knowledge about the resource that modifies its meaning or interpretation
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
8. Patient.language
Definition | The base language in which the resource is written.
Short | Language of the resource content
Comments | Language is provided to support indexing and accessibility (typically, services such as text to speech use the language tag). The html language tag in the narrative applies to the narrative. The language tag on the resource may be used to specify the language of other presentations generated from the data in the resource. Not all the content has to be in the base language. The Resource.language should not be assumed to apply to the narrative automatically. If a language is specified, it should it also be specified on the div element in the html (see rules in HTML5 for information about the relationship between xml:lang and the html lang attribute).
Control | 0..1
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from AllLanguages (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/all-languages|5.0.0` ) IETF language tag for a human language
Type | code
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
10. Patient.text
Definition | A human-readable narrative that contains a summary of the resource and can be used to represent the content of the resource to a human. The narrative need not encode all the structured data, but is required to contain sufficient detail to make it "clinically safe" for a human to just read the narrative. Resource definitions may define what content should be represented in the narrative to ensure clinical safety.
Short | Text summary of the resource, for human interpretation
Comments | Contained resources do not have a narrative. Resources that are not contained SHOULD have a narrative. In some cases, a resource may only have text with little or no additional discrete data (as long as all minOccurs=1 elements are satisfied). This may be necessary for data from legacy systems where information is captured as a "text blob" or where text is additionally entered raw or narrated and encoded information is added later.
Control | 0..1 This element is affected by the following invariants: dom-6
Type | Narrative
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Alternate Names | narrative, html, xhtml, display
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
12. Patient.contained
Definition | These resources do not have an independent existence apart from the resource that contains them - they cannot be identified independently, nor can they have their own independent transaction scope. This is allowed to be a Parameters resource if and only if it is referenced by a resource that provides context/meaning.
Short | Contained, inline Resources
Comments | This should never be done when the content can be identified properly, as once identification is lost, it is extremely difficult (and context dependent) to restore it again. Contained resources may have profiles and tags in their meta elements, but SHALL NOT have security labels.
Control | 0..* This element is affected by the following invariants: dom-2, dom-4, dom-3, dom-5
Type | Resource
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Alternate Names | inline resources, anonymous resources, contained resources
14. Patient.extension
Definition | An Extension
Short | Extension
Control | 0..*
Type | Extension
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`) ext-1: Must have either extensions or value[x], not both (`extension.exists() != value.exists()`)
Slicing | This element introduces a set of slices on `Patient.extension`. The slices areUnordered and Open, and can be differentiated using the following discriminators: value @ url
16. Patient.extension:ethnicCode
Slice Name | ethnicCode
Definition | Extension to capture जाति कोड (ethnicity) based on Nepali classification
Short | Ethnic Code
Control | 0..1
Type | Extension(Ethnic Code) (Extension Type: Coding)
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`) ext-1: Must have either extensions or value[x], not both (`extension.exists() != value.exists()`)
18. Patient.modifierExtension
Definition | May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the resource and that modifies the understanding of the element that contains it and/or the understanding of the containing element's descendants. Usually modifier elements provide negation or qualification. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer is allowed to define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension. Applications processing a resource are required to check for modifier extensions. Modifier extensions SHALL NOT change the meaning of any elements on Resource or DomainResource (including cannot change the meaning of modifierExtension itself).
Short | Extensions that cannot be ignored
Comments | There can be no stigma associated with the use of extensions by any application, project, or standard - regardless of the institution or jurisdiction that uses or defines the extensions. The use of extensions is what allows the FHIR specification to retain a core level of simplicity for everyone.
Control | 0..*
Type | Extension
Is Modifier | true because Modifier extensions are expected to modify the meaning or interpretation of the resource that contains them
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Modifier extensions allow for extensions that cannot be safely ignored to be clearly distinguished from the vast majority of extensions which can be safely ignored. This promotes interoperability by eliminating the need for implementers to prohibit the presence of extensions. For further information, see the definition of modifier extensions.
Alternate Names | extensions, user content
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`) ext-1: Must have either extensions or value[x], not both (`extension.exists() != value.exists()`)
20. Patient.identifier
Definition | An identifier for this patient.
Short | An identifier for this patient
Note | This is a business identifier, not a resource identifier (see discussion)
Control | 1..4
Type | Identifier
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Patients are almost always assigned specific numerical identifiers.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
Slicing | This element introduces a set of slices on `Patient.identifier`. The slices areUnordered and Open, and can be differentiated using the following discriminators: value @ system
22. Patient.identifier:NationalID
Slice Name | NationalID
Definition | An identifier for this patient.
Short | An identifier for this patient
Note | This is a business identifier, not a resource identifier (see discussion)
Control | 0..1
Type | Identifier
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Patients are almost always assigned specific numerical identifiers.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
24. Patient.identifier:HealthID
Slice Name | HealthID
Definition | An identifier for this patient.
Short | An identifier for this patient
Note | This is a business identifier, not a resource identifier (see discussion)
Control | 0..1
Type | Identifier
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Patients are almost always assigned specific numerical identifiers.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
26. Patient.identifier:SystemID
Slice Name | SystemID
Definition | An identifier for this patient.
Short | An identifier for this patient
Note | This is a business identifier, not a resource identifier (see discussion)
Control | 0..1
Type | Identifier
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Patients are almost always assigned specific numerical identifiers.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
28. Patient.identifier:MasterID
Slice Name | MasterID
Definition | An identifier for this patient.
Short | An identifier for this patient
Note | This is a business identifier, not a resource identifier (see discussion)
Control | 0..1
Type | Identifier
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Patients are almost always assigned specific numerical identifiers.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
30. Patient.active
Definition | Whether this patient record is in active use. Many systems use this property to mark as non-current patients, such as those that have not been seen for a period of time based on an organization's business rules. It is often used to filter patient lists to exclude inactive patients Deceased patients may also be marked as inactive for the same reasons, but may be active for some time after death.
Short | Whether this patient's record is in active use
Comments | If a record is inactive, and linked to an active record, then future patient/record updates should occur on the other patient.
Control | 0..1
Type | boolean
Is Modifier | true because This element is labelled as a modifier because it is a status element that can indicate that a record should not be treated as valid
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Need to be able to mark a patient record as not to be used because it was created in error.
Meaning if Missing | This resource is generally assumed to be active if no value is provided for the active element
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
32. Patient.name
Definition | A name associated with the individual.
Short | A name associated with the patient
Comments | A patient may have multiple names with different uses or applicable periods. For animals, the name is a "HumanName" in the sense that is assigned and used by humans and has the same patterns. Animal names may be communicated as given names, and optionally may include a family name.
Control | 1..1
Type | HumanName
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Need to be able to track the patient by multiple names. Examples are your official name and a partner name.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
34. Patient.name.id
Definition | Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces.
Short | Unique id for inter-element referencing
Control | 0..1 This element is affected by the following invariants: ele-1
Type | id
Is Modifier | false
XML Format | In the XML format, this property is represented as an attribute.
Summary | false
36. Patient.name.extension
Definition | May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension.
Short | Additional content defined by implementations
Comments | There can be no stigma associated with the use of extensions by any application, project, or standard - regardless of the institution or jurisdiction that uses or defines the extensions. The use of extensions is what allows the FHIR specification to retain a core level of simplicity for everyone.
Control | 0..*
Type | Extension
Is Modifier | false
Summary | false
Alternate Names | extensions, user content
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`) ext-1: Must have either extensions or value[x], not both (`extension.exists() != value.exists()`)
Slicing | This element introduces a set of slices on `Patient.name.extension`. The slices areUnordered and Open, and can be differentiated using the following discriminators: value @ url
38. Patient.name.use
Definition | Identifies the purpose for this name.
Short | usual | official | temp | nickname | anonymous | old | maiden
Comments | Applications can assume that a name is current unless it explicitly says that it is temporary or old.
Control | 1..1
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from NameUse (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/name-use|5.0.0` ) The use of a human name.
Type | code
Is Modifier | true because This is labeled as "Is Modifier" because applications should not mistake a temporary or old name etc.for a current/permanent one
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Requirements | Allows the appropriate name for a particular context of use to be selected from among a set of names.
Pattern Value | `official`
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
40. Patient.name.text
Definition | Specifies the entire name as it should be displayed e.g. on an application UI. This may be provided instead of or as well as the specific parts.
Short | Text representation of the full name
Comments | Can provide both a text representation and parts. Applications updating a name SHALL ensure that when both text and parts are present, no content is included in the text that isn't found in a part.
Control | 1..1
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Requirements | A renderable, unencoded form.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
42. Patient.name.family
Definition | The part of a name that links to the genealogy. In some cultures (e.g. Eritrea) the family name of a son is the first name of his father.
Short | Family name (often called 'Surname')
Comments | Family Name may be decomposed into specific parts using extensions (de, nl, es related cultures).
Control | 1..1
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Alternate Names | surname
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
44. Patient.name.given
Definition | Given name.
Short | Given names (not always 'first'). Includes middle names
Comments | If only initials are recorded, they may be used in place of the full name parts. Initials may be separated into multiple given names but often aren't due to paractical limitations. This element is not called "first name" since given names do not always come first.
Control | 1..*
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Alternate Names | first name, middle name
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
46. Patient.name.prefix
Definition | Part of the name that is acquired as a title due to academic, legal, employment or nobility status, etc. and that appears at the start of the name.
Short | Parts that come before the name
Control | 0..*
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
48. Patient.name.suffix
Definition | Part of the name that is acquired as a title due to academic, legal, employment or nobility status, etc. and that appears at the end of the name.
Short | Parts that come after the name
Control | 0..*
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
50. Patient.name.period
Definition | Indicates the period of time when this name was valid for the named person.
Short | Time period when name was/is in use
Control | 0..1
Type | Period
Is Modifier | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Allows names to be placed in historical context.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
52. Patient.telecom
Definition | A contact detail (e.g. a telephone number or an email address) by which the individual may be contacted.
Short | A contact detail for the individual
Comments | A Patient may have multiple ways to be contacted with different uses or applicable periods. May need to have options for contacting the person urgently and also to help with identification. The address might not go directly to the individual, but may reach another party that is able to proxy for the patient (i.e. home phone, or pet owner's phone).
Control | 0..1
Type | ContactPoint
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | People have (primary) ways to contact them in some way such as phone, email.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
Slicing | This element introduces a set of slices on `Patient.telecom`. The slices areUnordered and Open, and can be differentiated using the following discriminators: value @ system
54. Patient.telecom:Phone
Slice Name | Phone
Definition | A contact detail (e.g. a telephone number or an email address) by which the individual may be contacted.
Short | A contact detail for the individual
Comments | A Patient may have multiple ways to be contacted with different uses or applicable periods. May need to have options for contacting the person urgently and also to help with identification. The address might not go directly to the individual, but may reach another party that is able to proxy for the patient (i.e. home phone, or pet owner's phone).
Control | 0..1
Type | ContactPoint
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | People have (primary) ways to contact them in some way such as phone, email.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
56. Patient.telecom:Phone.id
Definition | Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces.
Short | Unique id for inter-element referencing
Control | 0..1 This element is affected by the following invariants: ele-1
Type | id
Is Modifier | false
XML Format | In the XML format, this property is represented as an attribute.
Summary | false
58. Patient.telecom:Phone.extension
Definition | May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension.
Short | Additional content defined by implementations
Comments | There can be no stigma associated with the use of extensions by any application, project, or standard - regardless of the institution or jurisdiction that uses or defines the extensions. The use of extensions is what allows the FHIR specification to retain a core level of simplicity for everyone.
Control | 0..*
Type | Extension
Is Modifier | false
Summary | false
Alternate Names | extensions, user content
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`) ext-1: Must have either extensions or value[x], not both (`extension.exists() != value.exists()`)
Slicing | This element introduces a set of slices on `Patient.telecom.extension`. The slices areUnordered and Open, and can be differentiated using the following discriminators: value @ url
60. Patient.telecom:Phone.system
Definition | Telecommunications form for contact point - what communications system is required to make use of the contact.
Short | phone | fax | email | pager | url | sms | other
Control | 1..1 This element is affected by the following invariants: cpt-2
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from ContactPointSystem (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/contact-point-system|5.0.0` ) Telecommunications form for contact point.
Type | code
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Pattern Value | `phone`
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
62. Patient.telecom:Phone.value
Definition | The actual contact point details, in a form that is meaningful to the designated communication system (i.e. phone number or email address).
Short | The actual contact point details
Comments | Additional text data such as phone extension numbers, or notes about use of the contact are sometimes included in the value.
Control | 0..1 This element is affected by the following invariants: cpt-2
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Requirements | Need to support legacy numbers that are not in a tightly controlled format.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
64. Patient.telecom:Phone.use
Definition | Identifies the purpose for the contact point.
Short | home | work | temp | old | mobile - purpose of this contact point
Comments | Applications can assume that a contact is current unless it explicitly says that it is temporary or old.
Control | 0..1
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from ContactPointUse (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/contact-point-use|5.0.0` ) Use of contact point.
Type | code
Is Modifier | true because This is labeled as "Is Modifier" because applications should not mistake a temporary or old contact etc.for a current/permanent one
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Requirements | Need to track the way a person uses this contact, so a user can choose which is appropriate for their purpose.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
66. Patient.telecom:Phone.rank
Definition | Specifies a preferred order in which to use a set of contacts. ContactPoints with lower rank values are more preferred than those with higher rank values.
Short | Specify preferred order of use (1 = highest)
Comments | Note that rank does not necessarily follow the order in which the contacts are represented in the instance. Ranks need not be unique. E.g. it's possible to have multiple contacts with rank=1. If the ranks have different systems or uses, this would be interpreted to mean "X is my most preferred phone number, Y is my most preferred email address" or "X is my preferred home email and Y is my preferred work email". If the system and use for equally-ranked contacts are the same, then the level of preference is equivalent for both repetitions. Ranks need not be sequential and not all repetitions must have a rank. For example, it's possible to have 4 contacts with ranks of 2, 5 and two with no rank specified. That would be interpreted to mean the first is preferred over the second and no preference stated for the remaining contacts.
Control | 0..1
Type | positiveInt
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
68. Patient.telecom:Phone.period
Definition | Time period when the contact point was/is in use.
Short | Time period when the contact point was/is in use
Control | 0..1
Type | Period
Is Modifier | false
Summary | true
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
70. Patient.telecom:Email
Slice Name | Email
Definition | A contact detail (e.g. a telephone number or an email address) by which the individual may be contacted.
Short | A contact detail for the individual
Comments | A Patient may have multiple ways to be contacted with different uses or applicable periods. May need to have options for contacting the person urgently and also to help with identification. The address might not go directly to the individual, but may reach another party that is able to proxy for the patient (i.e. home phone, or pet owner's phone).
Control | 0..1
Type | ContactPoint
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | People have (primary) ways to contact them in some way such as phone, email.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
72. Patient.telecom:Email.id
Definition | Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces.
Short | Unique id for inter-element referencing
Control | 0..1 This element is affected by the following invariants: ele-1
Type | id
Is Modifier | false
XML Format | In the XML format, this property is represented as an attribute.
Summary | false
74. Patient.telecom:Email.extension
Definition | May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension.
Short | Additional content defined by implementations
Comments | There can be no stigma associated with the use of extensions by any application, project, or standard - regardless of the institution or jurisdiction that uses or defines the extensions. The use of extensions is what allows the FHIR specification to retain a core level of simplicity for everyone.
Control | 0..*
Type | Extension
Is Modifier | false
Summary | false
Alternate Names | extensions, user content
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`) ext-1: Must have either extensions or value[x], not both (`extension.exists() != value.exists()`)
Slicing | This element introduces a set of slices on `Patient.telecom.extension`. The slices areUnordered and Open, and can be differentiated using the following discriminators: value @ url
76. Patient.telecom:Email.system
Definition | Telecommunications form for contact point - what communications system is required to make use of the contact.
Short | phone | fax | email | pager | url | sms | other
Control | 1..1 This element is affected by the following invariants: cpt-2
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from ContactPointSystem (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/contact-point-system|5.0.0` ) Telecommunications form for contact point.
Type | code
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Pattern Value | `email`
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
78. Patient.telecom:Email.value
Definition | The actual contact point details, in a form that is meaningful to the designated communication system (i.e. phone number or email address).
Short | The actual contact point details
Comments | Additional text data such as phone extension numbers, or notes about use of the contact are sometimes included in the value.
Control | 0..1 This element is affected by the following invariants: cpt-2
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Requirements | Need to support legacy numbers that are not in a tightly controlled format.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
80. Patient.telecom:Email.use
Definition | Identifies the purpose for the contact point.
Short | home | work | temp | old | mobile - purpose of this contact point
Comments | Applications can assume that a contact is current unless it explicitly says that it is temporary or old.
Control | 0..1
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from ContactPointUse (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/contact-point-use|5.0.0` ) Use of contact point.
Type | code
Is Modifier | true because This is labeled as "Is Modifier" because applications should not mistake a temporary or old contact etc.for a current/permanent one
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Requirements | Need to track the way a person uses this contact, so a user can choose which is appropriate for their purpose.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
82. Patient.telecom:Email.rank
Definition | Specifies a preferred order in which to use a set of contacts. ContactPoints with lower rank values are more preferred than those with higher rank values.
Short | Specify preferred order of use (1 = highest)
Comments | Note that rank does not necessarily follow the order in which the contacts are represented in the instance. Ranks need not be unique. E.g. it's possible to have multiple contacts with rank=1. If the ranks have different systems or uses, this would be interpreted to mean "X is my most preferred phone number, Y is my most preferred email address" or "X is my preferred home email and Y is my preferred work email". If the system and use for equally-ranked contacts are the same, then the level of preference is equivalent for both repetitions. Ranks need not be sequential and not all repetitions must have a rank. For example, it's possible to have 4 contacts with ranks of 2, 5 and two with no rank specified. That would be interpreted to mean the first is preferred over the second and no preference stated for the remaining contacts.
Control | 0..1
Type | positiveInt
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
84. Patient.telecom:Email.period
Definition | Time period when the contact point was/is in use.
Short | Time period when the contact point was/is in use
Control | 0..1
Type | Period
Is Modifier | false
Summary | true
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
86. Patient.gender
Definition | Administrative Gender - the gender that the patient is considered to have for administration and record keeping purposes.
Short | male | female | other | unknown
Comments | The gender might not match the biological sex as determined by genetics or the individual's preferred identification. Note that for both humans and particularly animals, there are other legitimate possibilities than male and female, though the vast majority of systems and contexts only support male and female. Systems providing decision support or enforcing business rules should ideally do this on the basis of Observations dealing with the specific sex or gender aspect of interest (anatomical, chromosomal, social, etc.) However, because these observations are infrequently recorded, defaulting to the administrative gender is common practice. Where such defaulting occurs, rule enforcement should allow for the variation between administrative and biological, chromosomal and other gender aspects. For example, an alert about a hysterectomy on a male should be handled as a warning or overridable error, not a "hard" error. See the Patient Gender and Sex section for additional information about communicating patient gender and sex.
Control | 1..1
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from AdministrativeGender (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/administrative-gender|5.0.0` ) The gender of a person used for administrative purposes.
Type | code
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Needed for identification of the individual, in combination with (at least) name and birth date.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
88. Patient.birthDate
Definition | The date of birth for the individual.
Short | The date of birth for the individual
Comments | Partial dates are allowed if the specific date of birth is unknown. There is a standard extension "patient-birthTime" available that should be used where Time is required (such as in maternity/infant care systems).
Control | 1..1
Type | date
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Age of the individual drives many clinical processes.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
LOINC Code | 21112-8
90. Patient.deceased[x]
Definition | Indicates if the individual is deceased or not.
Short | Indicates if the individual is deceased or not
Comments | If there's no value in the instance, it means there is no statement on whether or not the individual is deceased. Most systems will interpret the absence of a value as a sign of the person being alive.
Control | 0..1
Type | Choice of: boolean, dateTime
[x] Note | SeeChoice of Data Typesfor further information about how to use [x]
Is Modifier | true because This element is labeled as a modifier because once a patient is marked as deceased, the actions that are appropriate to perform on the patient may be significantly different.
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | The fact that a patient is deceased influences the clinical process. Also, in human communication and relation management it is necessary to know whether the person is alive.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
92. Patient.address
Definition | An address for the individual.
Short | An address for the individual
Comments | Patient may have multiple addresses with different uses or applicable periods.
Control | 0..1
Type | Address
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | May need to keep track of patient addresses for contacting, billing or reporting requirements and also to help with identification.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
94. Patient.address.id
Definition | Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces.
Short | Unique id for inter-element referencing
Control | 0..1 This element is affected by the following invariants: ele-1
Type | id
Is Modifier | false
XML Format | In the XML format, this property is represented as an attribute.
Summary | false
96. Patient.address.extension
Definition | May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension.
Short | Additional content defined by implementations
Comments | There can be no stigma associated with the use of extensions by any application, project, or standard - regardless of the institution or jurisdiction that uses or defines the extensions. The use of extensions is what allows the FHIR specification to retain a core level of simplicity for everyone.
Control | 0..*
Type | Extension
Is Modifier | false
Summary | false
Alternate Names | extensions, user content
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`) ext-1: Must have either extensions or value[x], not both (`extension.exists() != value.exists()`)
Slicing | This element introduces a set of slices on `Patient.address.extension`. The slices areUnordered and Open, and can be differentiated using the following discriminators: value @ url
98. Patient.address.extension:nepalAddress
Slice Name | nepalAddress
Definition | Extension to represent coded and textual forms of Nepal's administrative divisions (Province, District, Municipality, Ward).
Short | Nepal Address
Control | 0..1
Type | Extension(Nepal Address) (Complex Extension)
Is Modifier | false
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`) ext-1: Must have either extensions or value[x], not both (`extension.exists() != value.exists()`)
100. Patient.address.use
Definition | The purpose of this address.
Short | home | work | temp | old | billing - purpose of this address
Comments | Applications can assume that an address is current unless it explicitly says that it is temporary or old.
Control | 0..1
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from AddressUse (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/address-use|5.0.0` ) The use of an address (home / work / etc.).
Type | code
Is Modifier | true because This is labeled as "Is Modifier" because applications should not mistake a temporary or old address etc.for a current/permanent one
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Requirements | Allows an appropriate address to be chosen from a list of many.
Example | General: home
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
102. Patient.address.type
Definition | Distinguishes between physical addresses (those you can visit) and mailing addresses (e.g. PO Boxes and care-of addresses). Most addresses are both.
Short | postal | physical | both
Comments | The definition of Address states that "address is intended to describe postal addresses, not physical locations". However, many applications track whether an address has a dual purpose of being a location that can be visited as well as being a valid delivery destination, and Postal addresses are often used as proxies for physical locations (also see the Location resource).
Control | 0..1
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from AddressType (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/address-type|5.0.0` ) The type of an address (physical / postal).
Type | code
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Example | General: both
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
104. Patient.address.text
Definition | Specifies the entire address as it should be displayed e.g. on a postal label. This may be provided instead of or as well as the specific parts.
Short | Text representation of the address
Comments | Can provide both a text representation and parts. Applications updating an address SHALL ensure that when both text and parts are present, no content is included in the text that isn't found in a part.
Control | 0..1
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Requirements | A renderable, unencoded form.
Example | General: 137 Nowhere Street, Erewhon 9132
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
106. Patient.address.line
Definition | This component contains the house number, apartment number, street name, street direction, P.O. Box number, delivery hints, and similar address information.
Short | Street name, number, direction & P.O. Box etc.
Control | 0..*
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Example | General: 137 Nowhere Street
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
108. Patient.address.city
Definition | The name of the city, town, suburb, village or other community or delivery center.
Short | Name of city, town etc.
Control | 0..1
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Alternate Names | Municpality
Example | General: Erewhon
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
110. Patient.address.district
Definition | The name of the administrative area (county).
Short | District name (aka county)
Comments | District is sometimes known as county, but in some regions 'county' is used in place of city (municipality), so county name should be conveyed in city instead.
Control | 0..1
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Alternate Names | County
Example | General: Madison
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
112. Patient.address.state
Definition | Sub-unit of a country with limited sovereignty in a federally organized country. A code may be used if codes are in common use (e.g. US 2 letter state codes).
Short | Sub-unit of country (abbreviations ok)
Control | 0..1
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Alternate Names | Province, Territory
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
114. Patient.address.postalCode
Definition | A postal code designating a region defined by the postal service.
Short | Postal code for area
Control | 0..1
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Alternate Names | Zip
Example | General: 9132
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
116. Patient.address.country
Definition | Country - a nation as commonly understood or generally accepted.
Short | Country (e.g. may be ISO 3166 2 or 3 letter code)
Comments | ISO 3166 2- or 3- letter codes MAY be used in place of a human readable country name.
Control | 0..1
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Summary | true
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
118. Patient.address.period
Definition | Time period when address was/is in use.
Short | Time period when address was/is in use
Control | 0..1
Type | Period
Is Modifier | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Allows addresses to be placed in historical context.
Example | General: { "start" : "2010-03-23", "end" : "2010-07-01" }
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
120. Patient.maritalStatus
Definition | This field contains a patient's most recent marital (civil) status.
Short | Marital (civil) status of a patient
Control | 0..1
Binding | Unless not suitable, these codes SHALL be taken from MaritalStatusCodes (extensible to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/marital-status` ) The domestic partnership status of a person.
Type | CodeableConcept
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Requirements | Most, if not all systems capture it.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
122. Patient.multipleBirth[x]
Definition | Indicates whether the patient is part of a multiple (boolean) or indicates the actual birth order (integer).
Short | Whether patient is part of a multiple birth
Comments | Where the valueInteger is provided, the number is the birth number in the sequence. E.g. The middle birth in triplets would be valueInteger=2 and the third born would have valueInteger=3 If a boolean value was provided for this triplets example, then all 3 patient records would have valueBoolean=true (the ordering is not indicated).
Control | 0..1
Type | Choice of: boolean, integer
[x] Note | SeeChoice of Data Typesfor further information about how to use [x]
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Requirements | For disambiguation of multiple-birth children, especially relevant where the care provider doesn't meet the patient, such as labs.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
124. Patient.photo
Definition | Image of the patient.
Short | Image of the patient
Comments | Guidelines: Use id photos, not clinical photos. Limit dimensions to thumbnail. Keep byte count low to ease resource updates.
Control | 0..*
Type | Attachment
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Requirements | Many EHR systems have the capability to capture an image of the patient. Fits with newer social media usage too.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
126. Patient.contact
Definition | A contact party (e.g. guardian, partner, friend) for the patient.
Short | A contact party (e.g. guardian, partner, friend) for the patient
Comments | Contact covers all kinds of contact parties: family members, business contacts, guardians, caregivers. Not applicable to register pedigree and family ties beyond use of having contact.
Control | 0..*
Type | BackboneElement
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Requirements | Need to track people you can contact about the patient.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`) pat-1: SHALL at least contain a contact's details or a reference to an organization (`name.exists() or telecom.exists() or address.exists() or organization.exists()`)
128. Patient.contact.id
Definition | Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces.
Short | Unique id for inter-element referencing
Control | 0..1 This element is affected by the following invariants: ele-1
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
XML Format | In the XML format, this property is represented as an attribute.
Summary | false
130. Patient.contact.extension
Definition | May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension.
Short | Additional content defined by implementations
Comments | There can be no stigma associated with the use of extensions by any application, project, or standard - regardless of the institution or jurisdiction that uses or defines the extensions. The use of extensions is what allows the FHIR specification to retain a core level of simplicity for everyone.
Control | 0..*
Type | Extension
Is Modifier | false
Summary | false
Alternate Names | extensions, user content
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`) ext-1: Must have either extensions or value[x], not both (`extension.exists() != value.exists()`)
132. Patient.contact.modifierExtension
Definition | May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element and that modifies the understanding of the element in which it is contained and/or the understanding of the containing element's descendants. Usually modifier elements provide negation or qualification. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension. Applications processing a resource are required to check for modifier extensions. Modifier extensions SHALL NOT change the meaning of any elements on Resource or DomainResource (including cannot change the meaning of modifierExtension itself).
Short | Extensions that cannot be ignored even if unrecognized
Comments | There can be no stigma associated with the use of extensions by any application, project, or standard - regardless of the institution or jurisdiction that uses or defines the extensions. The use of extensions is what allows the FHIR specification to retain a core level of simplicity for everyone.
Control | 0..*
Type | Extension
Is Modifier | true because Modifier extensions are expected to modify the meaning or interpretation of the element that contains them
Summary | true
Requirements | Modifier extensions allow for extensions that cannot be safely ignored to be clearly distinguished from the vast majority of extensions which can be safely ignored. This promotes interoperability by eliminating the need for implementers to prohibit the presence of extensions. For further information, see the definition of modifier extensions.
Alternate Names | extensions, user content, modifiers
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`) ext-1: Must have either extensions or value[x], not both (`extension.exists() != value.exists()`)
134. Patient.contact.relationship
Definition | The nature of the relationship between the patient and the contact person.
Short | The kind of relationship
Control | 0..*
Binding | Unless not suitable, these codes SHALL be taken from PatientContactRelationship (extensible to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/patient-contactrelationship` ) The nature of the relationship between a patient and a contact person for that patient.
Type | CodeableConcept
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Requirements | Used to determine which contact person is the most relevant to approach, depending on circumstances.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
136. Patient.contact.name
Definition | A name associated with the contact person.
Short | A name associated with the contact person
Control | 0..1 This element is affected by the following invariants: pat-1
Type | HumanName
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Requirements | Contact persons need to be identified by name, but it is uncommon to need details about multiple other names for that contact person.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
138. Patient.contact.telecom
Definition | A contact detail for the person, e.g. a telephone number or an email address.
Short | A contact detail for the person
Comments | Contact may have multiple ways to be contacted with different uses or applicable periods. May need to have options for contacting the person urgently, and also to help with identification.
Control | 0..* This element is affected by the following invariants: pat-1
Type | ContactPoint
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Requirements | People have (primary) ways to contact them in some way such as phone, email.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
140. Patient.contact.address
Definition | Address for the contact person.
Short | Address for the contact person
Control | 0..1 This element is affected by the following invariants: pat-1
Type | Address
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Requirements | Need to keep track where the contact person can be contacted per postal mail or visited.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
142. Patient.contact.gender
Definition | Administrative Gender - the gender that the contact person is considered to have for administration and record keeping purposes.
Short | male | female | other | unknown
Control | 0..1
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from AdministrativeGender (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/administrative-gender|5.0.0` ) The gender of a person used for administrative purposes.
Type | code
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Requirements | Needed to address the person correctly.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
144. Patient.contact.organization
Definition | Organization on behalf of which the contact is acting or for which the contact is working.
Short | Organization that is associated with the contact
Control | 0..1 This element is affected by the following invariants: pat-1
Type | Reference(Organization)
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Requirements | For guardians or business related contacts, the organization is relevant.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
146. Patient.contact.period
Definition | The period during which this contact person or organization is valid to be contacted relating to this patient.
Short | The period during which this contact person or organization is valid to be contacted relating to this patient
Control | 0..1
Type | Period
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
148. Patient.communication
Definition | A language which may be used to communicate with the patient about his or her health.
Short | A language which may be used to communicate with the patient about his or her health
Comments | If no language is specified, this implies that the default local language is spoken. If you need to convey proficiency for multiple modes, then you need multiple Patient.Communication associations. For animals, language is not a relevant field, and should be absent from the instance. If the Patient does not speak the default local language, then the Interpreter Required Standard can be used to explicitly declare that an interpreter is required.
Control | 0..*
Type | BackboneElement
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Requirements | If a patient does not speak the local language, interpreters may be required, so languages spoken and proficiency are important things to keep track of both for patient and other persons of interest.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
150. Patient.communication.id
Definition | Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces.
Short | Unique id for inter-element referencing
Control | 0..1 This element is affected by the following invariants: ele-1
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
XML Format | In the XML format, this property is represented as an attribute.
Summary | false
152. Patient.communication.extension
Definition | May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension.
Short | Additional content defined by implementations
Comments | There can be no stigma associated with the use of extensions by any application, project, or standard - regardless of the institution or jurisdiction that uses or defines the extensions. The use of extensions is what allows the FHIR specification to retain a core level of simplicity for everyone.
Control | 0..*
Type | Extension
Is Modifier | false
Summary | false
Alternate Names | extensions, user content
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`) ext-1: Must have either extensions or value[x], not both (`extension.exists() != value.exists()`)
154. Patient.communication.modifierExtension
Definition | May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element and that modifies the understanding of the element in which it is contained and/or the understanding of the containing element's descendants. Usually modifier elements provide negation or qualification. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension. Applications processing a resource are required to check for modifier extensions. Modifier extensions SHALL NOT change the meaning of any elements on Resource or DomainResource (including cannot change the meaning of modifierExtension itself).
Short | Extensions that cannot be ignored even if unrecognized
Comments | There can be no stigma associated with the use of extensions by any application, project, or standard - regardless of the institution or jurisdiction that uses or defines the extensions. The use of extensions is what allows the FHIR specification to retain a core level of simplicity for everyone.
Control | 0..*
Type | Extension
Is Modifier | true because Modifier extensions are expected to modify the meaning or interpretation of the element that contains them
Summary | true
Requirements | Modifier extensions allow for extensions that cannot be safely ignored to be clearly distinguished from the vast majority of extensions which can be safely ignored. This promotes interoperability by eliminating the need for implementers to prohibit the presence of extensions. For further information, see the definition of modifier extensions.
Alternate Names | extensions, user content, modifiers
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`) ext-1: Must have either extensions or value[x], not both (`extension.exists() != value.exists()`)
156. Patient.communication.language
Definition | The ISO-639-1 alpha 2 code in lower case for the language, optionally followed by a hyphen and the ISO-3166-1 alpha 2 code for the region in upper case; e.g. "en" for English, or "en-US" for American English versus "en-AU" for Australian English.
Short | The language which can be used to communicate with the patient about his or her health
Comments | The structure aa-BB with this exact casing is one the most widely used notations for locale. However not all systems actually code this but instead have it as free text. Hence CodeableConcept instead of code as the data type.
Control | 1..1
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from AllLanguages (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/all-languages|5.0.0` ) IETF language tag for a human language
Type | CodeableConcept
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Requirements | Most systems in multilingual countries will want to convey language. Not all systems actually need the regional dialect.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
158. Patient.communication.preferred
Definition | Indicates whether or not the patient prefers this language (over other languages he masters up a certain level).
Short | Language preference indicator
Comments | This language is specifically identified for communicating healthcare information.
Control | 0..1
Type | boolean
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Requirements | People that master multiple languages up to certain level may prefer one or more, i.e. feel more confident in communicating in a particular language making other languages sort of a fall back method.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
160. Patient.generalPractitioner
Definition | Patient's nominated care provider.
Short | Patient's nominated primary care provider
Comments | This may be the primary care provider (in a GP context), or it may be a patient nominated care manager in a community/disability setting, or even organization that will provide people to perform the care provider roles. It is not to be used to record Care Teams, these should be in a CareTeam resource that may be linked to the CarePlan or EpisodeOfCare resources. Multiple GPs may be recorded against the patient for various reasons, such as a student that has his home GP listed along with the GP at university during the school semesters, or a "fly-in/fly-out" worker that has the onsite GP also included with his home GP to remain aware of medical issues. Jurisdictions may decide that they can profile this down to 1 if desired, or 1 per type.
Control | 0..*
Type | Reference(Organization, Practitioner, PractitionerRole)
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | false
Alternate Names | careProvider
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
162. Patient.managingOrganization
Definition | Organization that is the custodian of the patient record.
Short | Organization that is the custodian of the patient record
Comments | There is only one managing organization for a specific patient record. Other organizations will have their own Patient record, and may use the Link property to join the records together (or a Person resource which can include confidence ratings for the association).
Control | 0..1
Type | Reference(Organization)
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | Need to know who recognizes this patient record, manages and updates it.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
164. Patient.link
Definition | Link to a Patient or RelatedPerson resource that concerns the same actual individual.
Short | Link to a Patient or RelatedPerson resource that concerns the same actual individual
Comments | There is no assumption that linked patient records have mutual links.
Control | 0..*
Type | BackboneElement
Is Modifier | true because This element is labeled as a modifier because it might not be the main Patient resource, and the referenced patient should be used instead of this Patient record. This is when the link.type value is 'replaced-by'
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Requirements | There are multiple use cases: Duplicate patient records due to the clerical errors associated with the difficulties of identifying humans consistently, and Distribution of patient information across multiple servers.
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
166. Patient.link.id
Definition | Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces.
Short | Unique id for inter-element referencing
Control | 0..1 This element is affected by the following invariants: ele-1
Type | string
Is Modifier | false
XML Format | In the XML format, this property is represented as an attribute.
Summary | false
168. Patient.link.extension
Definition | May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension.
Short | Additional content defined by implementations
Comments | There can be no stigma associated with the use of extensions by any application, project, or standard - regardless of the institution or jurisdiction that uses or defines the extensions. The use of extensions is what allows the FHIR specification to retain a core level of simplicity for everyone.
Control | 0..*
Type | Extension
Is Modifier | false
Summary | false
Alternate Names | extensions, user content
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`) ext-1: Must have either extensions or value[x], not both (`extension.exists() != value.exists()`)
170. Patient.link.modifierExtension
Definition | May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element and that modifies the understanding of the element in which it is contained and/or the understanding of the containing element's descendants. Usually modifier elements provide negation or qualification. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension. Applications processing a resource are required to check for modifier extensions. Modifier extensions SHALL NOT change the meaning of any elements on Resource or DomainResource (including cannot change the meaning of modifierExtension itself).
Short | Extensions that cannot be ignored even if unrecognized
Comments | There can be no stigma associated with the use of extensions by any application, project, or standard - regardless of the institution or jurisdiction that uses or defines the extensions. The use of extensions is what allows the FHIR specification to retain a core level of simplicity for everyone.
Control | 0..*
Type | Extension
Is Modifier | true because Modifier extensions are expected to modify the meaning or interpretation of the element that contains them
Summary | true
Requirements | Modifier extensions allow for extensions that cannot be safely ignored to be clearly distinguished from the vast majority of extensions which can be safely ignored. This promotes interoperability by eliminating the need for implementers to prohibit the presence of extensions. For further information, see the definition of modifier extensions.
Alternate Names | extensions, user content, modifiers
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`) ext-1: Must have either extensions or value[x], not both (`extension.exists() != value.exists()`)
172. Patient.link.other
Definition | Link to a Patient or RelatedPerson resource that concerns the same actual individual.
Short | The other patient or related person resource that the link refers to
Comments | Referencing a RelatedPerson here removes the need to use a Person record to associate a Patient and RelatedPerson as the same individual.
Control | 1..1
Type | Reference(Patient, RelatedPerson)
Is Modifier | false
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)
174. Patient.link.type
Definition | The type of link between this patient resource and another patient resource.
Short | replaced-by | replaces | refer | seealso
Control | 1..1
Binding | The codes SHALL be taken from LinkType (required to `http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/link-type|5.0.0` ) The type of link between this patient resource and another Patient resource, or Patient/RelatedPerson when using the `seealso` code
Type | code
Is Modifier | false
Primitive Value | This primitive element may be present, or absent, or replaced by an extension
Must Support | false
Summary | true
Invariants | ele-1: All FHIR elements must have a @value or children (`hasValue() or (children().count() > id.count())`)