Death Certificate

Death Certificate is a profile of the FHIR STU3 Composition resource. A composition resource is the basic structure from which FHIR Documents - immutable bundles with attested narrative - are built. The death certificate composition is the structured content of the death certificate document to which the certifier attests and is referenceable by other interested parties. It includes the date of attestation and the immutable unique identifier assigned by the originating authoritative source of the death certification, typically the public health agency with jurisdictional accountability for the death.


UML Expression

vrdrdeathcertificateuml


Structure Definition

id0..1
profile1..1Pattern
identifier1..1
status1..1codeBinding
type1..1CodeableConceptFixed Value
subject1..1Reference(http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/Resource)Pattern
date1..1
mode1..1codeFixed Value
time1..1
party1..1Reference(http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/Patient | http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/Practitioner | http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/Organization)Pattern
code1..1CodeableConceptFixed Value
detail1..1Reference(http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/Resource)Pattern


Element Bindings

Element Name Binding Type Binding Value Fixed Value Code System
attester.mode Fixed Value "legal" composition-attestation-mode
attester.party Reference VRDR Certifier
event.code Fixed Value "103693007" SNOMED
event.detail Reference VRDR Death Certification
status Value Set CompositionStatus
subject Reference VRDR Decedent
type Fixed Value "64297-5" LOINC

Element Table

Composition..
Composition.id0..1
Composition.meta0..1
Composition.meta.profile1..1
Composition.identifier1..1
Composition.statuscode1..1
Composition.typeCodeableConcept1..1
Composition.subjectReference(http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/Resource)1..1
Composition.date1..1
Composition.attesterBackboneElement1..1
Composition.attester.modecode1..1
Composition.attester.time1..1
Composition.attester.partyReference(http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/Patient | http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/Practitioner | http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/Organization)1..1
Composition.eventBackboneElement1..1
Composition.event.codeCodeableConcept1..1
Composition.event.detailReference(http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/Resource)1..1


Requirements Traceability Mappings

Element Path Reference Location Data Item
effectiveDateTime Vital Records DAM 1.01 Vital Records Report filedDate
effectiveDateTime Death Certificate Item 50 Date Filed
effectiveDateTime Standard Death Record IG SDR DeathRecordContents Profile Composition.date

Instance Example

Example Values

Element Name Element Value
id example-death-certificate
profile VRDR-Death-Certificate
identifier.value 123454
status final
type.code.system http://loinc.org
type.code.code 64297-5
subject.reference example-decedent
date 2019-01-29T16:48:06.4988220-05:00
title Record of Death
attester.mode legal
attester.time 2019-01-29T16:48:06.4988220-05:00
attester.party.reference example-practitioner
code.code 103693007
detail.reference example-death-certification

Example XML Instance

<Composition>
  <id value="example-death-certificate" />
  <meta>
    <profile value="http://hl7.org/fhir/us/vrdr/StructureDefinition/VRDR-Death-Certificate" />
  </meta>
  <identifier>
    <value value="123454" />
  </identifier>
  <status value="final" />
  <type>
    <coding>
      <system value="http://loinc.org" />
      <code value="64297-5" />
    </coding>
  </type>
  <subject>
    <reference value="example-decedent" />
  </subject>
  <date value="2019-01-29T16:48:06.4988220-05:00" />
  <title value="Record of Death" />
  <attester>
    <mode value="legal" />
    <time value="2019-01-29T16:48:06.4988220-05:00" />
    <party>
      <reference value="example-practitioner" />
    </party>
  </attester>
  <event>
    <code>
      <coding>
        <code value="103693007" />
      </coding>
    </code>
    <detail>
      <reference value="example-death-certification" />
    </detail>
  </event>
</Composition>