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This section outlines the requirements that support the pan-Canadian Patient Summary Interoperability Specifications. The requirements refer to a standardized expression of actors, entities, and user-system interactions, which will be further defined within the Technical context. Some are intended to guide and support stakeholders in their PS-CA implementations. For example, certain requirements may reference to local/jurisdictional policies and/or standards, indicating that implementers should validate specific requirement needs, if any, within a jurisdiction.

Additional requirements may emerge and will be included in subsequent releases of the PS-CA specifications.

Requirement Identification

The requirements in this specification follow a standardized naming convention to ensure clarity and organization. The structure is based on three primary categories, each assigned a unique prefix, followed by a three-digit numerical identifier. The prefixes and categories are as follows:

• BR1-001 = First requirement within the Business and Legal Requirements
• BR2-001 = First requirement within the Information and Semantic Requirements
• BR3-001 = First requirement within the Technical Requirements

Conformance Language

The PS-CA specification utilizes conformance verbs such as SHALL, SHOULD, and MAY. They are described below for convenience:

• SHALL : This word defines an absolute requirement for all implementations.
• SHALL NOT : This phrase defines an absolute prohibition against inclusion for all implementations.
• SHOULD : This word defines a recommendation that is considered good practice to be included by an implementer. The full implications of ignoring it must be understood and carefully weighed before doing so.
• SHOULD NOT: This phrase defines a common bad practice to be omitted or ignored by an implementer. The full implications of implementing it must be understood and carefully weighed before doing so.
• MAY: This word defines truly optional items, which an implementer may choose to include or omit with no implications.