Encounter

Open Encounter profile on Simplifier ↗

The Encounter is the common context for what happened during one actual clinical contact. Its clinical records contain the findings, measurements, treatment and authored notes.

One contact, several kinds of information

The recall-to-treatment scenario has one Encounter for the examination and another for treatment. The original caries finding remains linked to its originating contact; later care can refer to that same Condition.

Use actual contact information. A booked time does not substitute for an unknown actual time, and an Appointment alone does not prove that a clinical contact occurred. A clinician's note can be finalised after the contact ends; the two statuses describe different things.

Use the contact's known lifecycle status. unknown remains permitted in the draft when an actual contact is established but its source status cannot be mapped; it must not be a default for ordinary clinical reporting. A controlled historical-migration exception must not be confused with routine integration imports. The profile cannot identify the source process by itself; the receiving integration must enforce the agreed distinction.

Urgent or unplanned care

An urgent contact can be represented without a prior Appointment, ServiceRequest or EpisodeOfCare. The Encounter still carries the patient and provider context required by its profile. Add planning links when the source establishes them.

Finding caries at an annual examination does not retrospectively make caries the reason for the original recall booking. Distinguish the reason for attendance from findings made during the contact.

Responsibility across visits

Link EpisodeOfCare when a defined organisational responsibility is represented and relevant to this contact. Do not split one contact simply because it addresses several responsibilities.

The optional health-group information concerns the classification applied at this contact. It is not a substitute for the patient's classification history; later reclassification does not automatically rewrite earlier contacts.