Address
General information
See HL7 Address for general information regarding the Address data type.
Scope and Usage
This profile defines how Address should be used to represent residential, work, and other addresses for persons and personnel in Swedish healthcare contexts. It specifies which elements are required, optional, or repeatable, and provides guidance on terminology bindings where applicable.
The profile is intended for use in multiple FHIR resources that contain address information, such as Patient, Practitioner, Person, and RelatedPerson. It ensures consistency in data capture, validation, and interoperability across different systems and regions.
The profile contains an extension for expressing the official type of the address, replicated from the HL7 Sweden base profiles officialAddressType extension. Refer to HL7 Sweden for guidance on how to use the Address data type together with the extension to express address types.
Boundaries and Relationships
The profile focuses on location information and does not include contact methods, names, or identifiers. Address may be linked to other demographic data via the containing resource (e.g., Patient.address or Practitioner.address).
In some resources the Address data type is found nested inside the HL7 ExtendedContactDetail data type, along with NPPRContactPoint. The ExtendedContactDetail data type allows for supplying the purpose of the contact detail which allows for more flexibility than the Address.use element.
Background and Context
The Address data type is widely used in healthcare and administrative FHIR resources to standardize the representation of location information. Standardizing address usage in Swedish healthcare ensures consistent and interoperable representation of person addresses across local, regional, and national systems.
This profile builds on the core HL7 Europe definition while adding guidance specific to Swedish practice, including cardinality, usage conventions, and recommended structure for multiple address types.
Profile
| NPPRAddress (Address) | AddressEu | ||
| id | 0..1 | string | |
| extension | C | 0..* | Extension |
| officialAddressType | S C | 0..1 | Extension(CodeableConcept) |
| use | S Σ ?! | 0..1 | codeBinding |
| type | S Σ | 0..1 | codeBinding |
| text | Σ | 0..1 | string |
| line | S Σ | 0..* | string |
| id | 0..1 | string | |
| extension | C | 0..* | Extension |
| streetName | S C | 0..1 | Extension(string) |
| houseNumber | S C | 0..1 | Extension(string) |
| postBox | S C | 0..1 | Extension(string) |
| value | S | 0..1 | System.String |
| city | S Σ | 0..1 | string |
| district | Σ | 0..1 | string |
| state | Σ | 0..1 | string |
| postalCode | S Σ | 0..1 | string |
| country | S Σ | 0..1 | string |
| id | 0..1 | string | |
| extension | C | 0..* | Extension |
| countryCode | S C | 0..1 | Extension(Coding) |
| id | 0..1 | string | |
| extension | C | 0..0 | Extension |
| url | 1..1 | uriFixed Value | |
| value[x] | C | 1..1 | Binding |
| valueCoding | Coding | ||
| value | 0..1 | System.String | |
| period | S Σ C | 1..1 | Period |
| id | 0..1 | string | |
| extension | C | 0..* | Extension |
| start | S Σ C | 1..1 | dateTime |
| end | S Σ C | 0..1 | dateTime |
| Address | |
| Short | An address expressed using postal conventions (as opposed to GPS or other location definition formats) |
| Definition | An address expressed using postal conventions (as opposed to GPS or other location definition formats). This data type may be used to convey addresses for use in delivering mail as well as for visiting locations which might not be valid for mail delivery. There are a variety of postal address formats defined around the world. The ISO21090-codedString may be used to provide a coded representation of the contents of strings in an Address. |
| Cardinality | 0..* |
| Comments | 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). |
| Constraints |
|
| Mappings |
|
| Address.id | |
| Short | Unique id for inter-element referencing |
| Definition | Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces. |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | string |
| Conditions | The cardinality or value of this element may be affected by these constraints: ele-1 |
| Mappings |
|
| Address.extension | |
| Short | Additional content defined by implementations |
| 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. |
| Cardinality | 0..* |
| Type | Extension |
| Alias | extensions, user content |
| 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. |
| Slicing | Unordered, Open, by url(Value) Extensions are always sliced by (at least) url |
| Constraints |
|
| Mappings |
|
| Address.extension:officialAddressType | |
| Short | Optional Extensions Element |
| Definition | Extension for Address to express official address type. |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | Extension(CodeableConcept) |
| Must Support | True |
| Alias | extensions, user content |
| 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. |
| Constraints |
|
| Mappings |
|
| Address.use | |
| Short | home | work | temp | old | billing - purpose of this address |
| Definition | The purpose of this address. |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | code |
| Binding | The use of an address (home / work / etc.). |
| Must Support | True |
| Modifier | True |
| Summary | True |
| Requirements | Allows an appropriate address to be chosen from a list of many. |
| Comments | Applications can assume that an address is current unless it explicitly says that it is temporary or old. |
| Constraints |
|
| Examples | Generalhome |
| Mappings |
|
| Address.type | |
| Short | postal | physical | both |
| Definition | Distinguishes between physical addresses (those you can visit) and mailing addresses (e.g. PO Boxes and care-of addresses). Most addresses are both. |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | code |
| Binding | The type of an address (physical / postal). |
| Must Support | True |
| Summary | True |
| 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). |
| Constraints |
|
| Examples | Generalboth |
| Mappings |
|
| Address.text | |
| Short | Text representation of the address |
| 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. |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | string |
| Summary | True |
| Requirements | A renderable, unencoded form. |
| 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. |
| Constraints |
|
| Examples | General137 Nowhere Street, Erewhon 9132 |
| Mappings |
|
| Address.line | |
| Short | Street name, number, direction & P.O. Box etc. |
| Definition | This component contains the house number, apartment number, street name, street direction, P.O. Box number, delivery hints, and similar address information. |
| Cardinality | 0..* |
| Type | string |
| Must Support | True |
| Summary | True |
| Comments | Note that FHIR strings SHALL NOT exceed 1,048,576 (1024*1024) characters in size |
| Constraints |
|
| Examples | General137 Nowhere Street |
| Mappings |
|
| Address.line.id | |
| Short | Unique id for inter-element referencing |
| Definition | Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces. |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | string |
| Conditions | The cardinality or value of this element may be affected by these constraints: ele-1 |
| Mappings |
|
| Address.line.extension | |
| Short | Additional content defined by implementations |
| 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. |
| Cardinality | 0..* |
| Type | Extension |
| Alias | extensions, user content |
| 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. |
| Slicing | Unordered, Open, by url(Value) Extensions are always sliced by (at least) url |
| Constraints |
|
| Mappings |
|
| Address.line.extension:streetName | |
| Short | streetName |
| Definition | streetName. |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | Extension(string) |
| Must Support | True |
| Alias | extensions, user content |
| 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. |
| Constraints |
|
| Mappings |
|
| Address.line.extension:houseNumber | |
| Short | houseNumber |
| Definition | The number of a building, house or lot alongside the street. Also known as "primary street number". This does not number the street but rather the building. |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | Extension(string) |
| Must Support | True |
| Alias | extensions, user content |
| 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. |
| Constraints |
|
| Mappings |
|
| Address.line.extension:postBox | |
| Short | postBox |
| Definition | A numbered box located in a post station. |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | Extension(string) |
| Must Support | True |
| Alias | extensions, user content |
| 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. |
| Constraints |
|
| Mappings |
|
| Address.line.value | |
| Short | Primitive value for string |
| Definition | Primitive value for string |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | System.String |
| Must Support | True |
| Maximum string length | 1048576 |
| Address.city | |
| Short | Name of city, town etc. |
| Definition | The name of the city, town, suburb, village or other community or delivery center. |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | string |
| Must Support | True |
| Summary | True |
| Alias | Municpality |
| Comments | Note that FHIR strings SHALL NOT exceed 1,048,576 (1024*1024) characters in size |
| Constraints |
|
| Examples | GeneralErewhon |
| Mappings |
|
| Address.district | |
| Short | District name (aka county) |
| Definition | The name of the administrative area (county). |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | string |
| Summary | True |
| Alias | 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. |
| Constraints |
|
| Examples | GeneralMadison |
| Mappings |
|
| Address.state | |
| Short | Sub-unit of country (abbreviations ok) |
| 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). |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | string |
| Summary | True |
| Alias | Province, Territory |
| Comments | Note that FHIR strings SHALL NOT exceed 1,048,576 (1024*1024) characters in size |
| Constraints |
|
| Mappings |
|
| Address.postalCode | |
| Short | Postal code for area |
| Definition | A postal code designating a region defined by the postal service. |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | string |
| Must Support | True |
| Summary | True |
| Alias | Zip |
| Comments | Note that FHIR strings SHALL NOT exceed 1,048,576 (1024*1024) characters in size |
| Constraints |
|
| Examples | General9132 |
| Mappings |
|
| Address.country | |
| Short | Country (e.g. may be ISO 3166 2 or 3 letter code) |
| Definition | Country - a nation as commonly understood or generally accepted. |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | string |
| Must Support | True |
| Summary | True |
| Comments | ISO 3166 2- or 3- letter codes MAY be used in place of a human readable country name. |
| Constraints |
|
| Mappings |
|
| Address.country.id | |
| Short | Unique id for inter-element referencing |
| Definition | Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces. |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | string |
| Conditions | The cardinality or value of this element may be affected by these constraints: ele-1 |
| Mappings |
|
| Address.country.extension | |
| Short | Additional content defined by implementations |
| 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. |
| Cardinality | 0..* |
| Type | Extension |
| Alias | extensions, user content |
| 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. |
| Slicing | Unordered, Open, by url(Value) Extensions are always sliced by (at least) url |
| Constraints |
|
| Mappings |
|
| Address.country.extension:countryCode | |
| Short | code for string |
| Definition | Provides a coded expression for the content represented in a string. |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | Extension(Coding) |
| Must Support | True |
| Alias | extensions, user content |
| 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. |
| Constraints |
|
| Mappings |
|
| Address.country.extension:countryCode.id | |
| Short | Unique id for inter-element referencing |
| Definition | Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces. |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | string |
| Conditions | The cardinality or value of this element may be affected by these constraints: ele-1 |
| Mappings |
|
| Address.country.extension:countryCode.extension | |
| Short | Additional content defined by implementations |
| 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. |
| Cardinality | 0..0 |
| Type | Extension |
| Alias | extensions, user content |
| 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. |
| Slicing | Unordered, Open, by url(Value) Extensions are always sliced by (at least) url |
| Constraints |
|
| Mappings |
|
| Address.country.extension:countryCode.url | |
| Short | identifies the meaning of the extension |
| Definition | Source of the definition for the extension code - a logical name or a URL. |
| Cardinality | 1..1 |
| Type | uri |
| Comments | The definition may point directly to a computable or human-readable definition of the extensibility codes, or it may be a logical URI as declared in some other specification. The definition SHALL be a URI for the Structure Definition defining the extension. |
| Fixed Value | http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/iso21090-codedString |
| Mappings |
|
| Address.country.extension:countryCode.value[x] | |
| Short | Value of extension |
| Definition | Value of extension - must be one of a constrained set of the data types (see Extensibility for a list). |
| Cardinality | 1..1 |
| Type | Coding |
| Binding | A coded representation for a string. Could be codes for country in a country address part, codes for prefixes in a name part, etc. |
| Conditions | The cardinality or value of this element may be affected by these constraints: ext-1 |
| Constraints |
|
| Mappings |
|
| Address.country.value | |
| Short | Primitive value for string |
| Definition | Primitive value for string |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | System.String |
| Maximum string length | 1048576 |
| Address.period | |
| Short | Time period when address was/is in use |
| Definition | Time period when address was/is in use. |
| Cardinality | 1..1 |
| Type | Period |
| Must Support | True |
| Summary | True |
| Requirements | Allows addresses to be placed in historical context. |
| Comments | 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. |
| Constraints |
|
| Examples | General{
"start": "2010-03-23",
"end": "2010-07-01"
} |
| Mappings |
|
| Address.period.id | |
| Short | Unique id for inter-element referencing |
| Definition | Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces. |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | string |
| Conditions | The cardinality or value of this element may be affected by these constraints: ele-1 |
| Mappings |
|
| Address.period.extension | |
| Short | Additional content defined by implementations |
| 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. |
| Cardinality | 0..* |
| Type | Extension |
| Alias | extensions, user content |
| 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. |
| Slicing | Unordered, Open, by url(Value) Extensions are always sliced by (at least) url |
| Constraints |
|
| Mappings |
|
| Address.period.start | |
| Short | Starting time with inclusive boundary |
| Definition | The start of the period. The boundary is inclusive. |
| Cardinality | 1..1 |
| Type | dateTime |
| Must Support | True |
| Summary | True |
| Comments | If the low element is missing, the meaning is that the low boundary is not known. |
| Conditions | The cardinality or value of this element may be affected by these constraints: per-1 |
| Constraints |
|
| Mappings |
|
| Address.period.end | |
| Short | End time with inclusive boundary, if not ongoing |
| Definition | The end of the period. If the end of the period is missing, it means no end was known or planned at the time the instance was created. The start may be in the past, and the end date in the future, which means that period is expected/planned to end at that time. |
| Cardinality | 0..1 |
| Type | dateTime |
| Must Support | True |
| Summary | True |
| Comments | The end value includes any matching date/time. i.e. 2012-02-03T10:00:00 is in a period that has an end value of 2012-02-03. |
| Meaning when missing | If the end of the period is missing, it means that the period is ongoing |
| Conditions | The cardinality or value of this element may be affected by these constraints: per-1 |
| Constraints |
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| Mappings |
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Constraints
This section is not applicable to this resource and therefore contains no content.
Terminology Bindings
This section is not applicable to this resource and therefore contains no content.
Extensions
| Path | URL |
|---|---|
| Address.extension | http://electronichealth.se/fhir/NPPR/StructureDefinition/NPPROfficialAddressTypeExtension |