DBIR Implementation Guide

The purpose of this identifier.

Allows the appropriate identifier for a particular context of use to be selected from among a set of identifiers.

Applications can assume that an identifier is permanent unless it explicitly says that it is temporary.

Identifies the purpose for this identifier, if known .

A coded type for the identifier that can be used to determine which identifier to use for a specific purpose.

Allows users to make use of identifiers when the identifier system is not known.

This element deals only with general categories of identifiers. It SHOULD not be used for codes that correspond 1..1 with the Identifier.system. Some identifiers may fall into multiple categories due to common usage. Where the system is known, a type is unnecessary because the type is always part of the system definition. However systems often need to handle identifiers where the system is not known. There is not a 1:1 relationship between type and system, since many different systems have the same type.

A coded type for an identifier that can be used to determine which identifier to use for a specific purpose.

Establishes the namespace for the value - that is, a URL that describes a set values that are unique.

There are many sets of identifiers. To perform matching of two identifiers, we need to know what set we're dealing with. The system identifies a particular set of unique identifiers.

Identifier.system is always case sensitive.

Time period during which identifier is/was valid for use.

A Period specifies a range of time; the context of use will specify whether the entire range applies (e.g. "the patient was an inpatient of the hospital for this time range") or one value from the range applies (e.g. "give to the patient between these two times").

Period is not used for a duration (a measure of elapsed time). See Duration.

Organization that issued/manages the identifier.

The Identifier.assigner may omit the .reference element and only contain a .display element reflecting the name or other textual information about the assigning organization.

Whether the organization's record is still in active use.

Need a flag to indicate a record is no longer to be used and should generally be hidden for the user in the UI.

This active flag is not intended to be used to mark an organization as temporarily closed or under construction. Instead the Location(s) within the Organization should have the suspended status. If further details of the reason for the suspension are required, then an extension on this element should be used.

This element is labeled as a modifier because it may be used to mark that the resource was created in error.

This resource is generally assumed to be active if no value is provided for the active element

The kind(s) of organization that this is.

Need to be able to track the kind of organization that this is - different organization types have different uses.

Organizations can be corporations, wards, sections, clinical teams, government departments, etc. Note that code is generally a classifier of the type of organization; in many applications, codes are used to identity a particular organization (say, ward) as opposed to another of the same type - these are identifiers, not codes

When considering if multiple types are appropriate, you should evaluate if child organizations would be a more appropriate use of the concept, as different types likely are in different sub-areas of the organization. This is most likely to be used where type values have orthogonal values, such as a religious, academic and medical center.

We expect that some jurisdictions will profile this optionality to be a single cardinality.

Used to categorize the organization.

A name associated with the organization.

Need to use the name as the label of the organization.

If the name of an organization changes, consider putting the old name in the alias column so that it can still be located through searches.

A list of alternate names that the organization is known as, or was known as in the past.

Over time locations and organizations go through many changes and can be known by different names.

For searching knowing previous names that the organization was known by can be very useful.

There are no dates associated with the alias/historic names, as this is not intended to track when names were used, but to assist in searching so that older names can still result in identifying the organization.

A contact detail for the organization.

Human contact for the organization.

The use code 'home' is not to be used. Note that these contacts are not the contact details of people who are employed by or represent the organization, but official contacts for the organization itself.

An address for the organization.

May need to keep track of the organization's addresses for contacting, billing or reporting requirements.

Organization may have multiple addresses with different uses or applicable periods. The use code 'home' is not to be used.

The organization of which this organization forms a part.

Need to be able to track the hierarchy of organizations within an organization.

References SHALL be a reference to an actual FHIR resource, and SHALL be resolveable (allowing for access control, temporary unavailability, etc.). Resolution can be either by retrieval from the URL, or, where applicable by resource type, by treating an absolute reference as a canonical URL and looking it up in a local registry/repository.

Indicates a purpose for which the contact can be reached.

Need to distinguish between multiple contact persons.

Not all terminology uses fit this general pattern. In some cases, models should not use CodeableConcept and use Coding directly and provide their own structure for managing text, codings, translations and the relationship between elements and pre- and post-coordination.

The purpose for which you would contact a contact party.

A name associated with the contact.

Need to be able to track the person by name.

Names may be changed, or repudiated, or people may have different names in different contexts. Names may be divided into parts of different type that have variable significance depending on context, though the division into parts does not always matter. With personal names, the different parts might or might not be imbued with some implicit meaning; various cultures associate different importance with the name parts and the degree to which systems must care about name parts around the world varies widely.

A contact detail (e.g. a telephone number or an email address) by which the party may be contacted.

People have (primary) ways to contact them in some way such as phone, email.

Visiting or postal addresses for the contact.

May need to keep track of a contact party's address for contacting, billing or reporting requirements.

Note: address is intended to describe postal addresses for administrative purposes, not to describe absolute geographical coordinates. Postal addresses are often used as proxies for physical locations (also see the Location resource).

Technical endpoints providing access to services operated for the organization.

Organizations have multiple systems that provide various services and need to be able to define the technical connection details for how to connect to them, and for what purpose.

References SHALL be a reference to an actual FHIR resource, and SHALL be resolveable (allowing for access control, temporary unavailability, etc.). Resolution can be either by retrieval from the URL, or, where applicable by resource type, by treating an absolute reference as a canonical URL and looking it up in a local registry/repository.