The formal description of a single piece of information that can be gathered and reported.

Often called a clinical template.

The logical id of the resource, as used in the url for the resoure. Once assigned, this value never changes.

The only time that a resource does not have an id is when it is being submitted to the server using a create operation. Bundles always have an id, though it is usually a generated UUID.

The metadata about the resource. This is content that is maintained by the infrastructure. Changes to the content may not always be associated with version changes to the resource.

A reference to a set of rules that were followed when the resource was constructed, and which must be understood when processing the content.

Asserting this rule set restricts the content to be only understood by a limited set of trading partners. This inherently limits the usefulness of the data in the long term. However the existing health eco-system is highly fractured, and not yet ready to define, collect, and exchange data in a generally computable sense. Wherever possible, implementers and/or specification writers should avoid using this element as much as possible.

The base language in which the resource is written.

Language is provided to support indexing and accessibility (typically, services such as text to speech use the language tag). The html language tag in the narrative applies to the narrative. The language tag on the resource may be used to specify the language of other presentations generated from the data in the resource

Not all the content has to be in the base language. The Resource.language should not be assumed to apply to the narrative automatically. If a language is specified, it should it also be specified on the div element in the html (see rules in HTML5 for information about the relationship between xml:lang and the html lang attribute).

A human-readable narrative that contains a summary of the resource, and may be used to represent the content of the resource to a human. The narrative need not encode all the structured data, but is required to contain sufficient detail to make it "clinically safe" for a human to just read the narrative. Resource definitions may define what content should be represented in the narrative to ensure clinical safety.

Contained resources do not have narrative. Resources that are not contained SHOULD have a narrative.

These resources do not have an independent existence apart from the resource that contains them - they cannot be identified independently, and nor can they have their own independent transaction scope.

This should never be done when the content can be identified properly, as once identification is lost, it is extremely difficult (and context dependent) to restore it again.

May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the resource. In order to make the use of extensions safe and manageable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer is allowed to define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension.

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.

• unordered
• open
• discriminators: url

The minimum number of characters that must be present in the simple data type to be considered a "valid" instance.

For base64binary, reflects the number of characters representing the encoded data, not the number of bytes of the binary data.

The maximum number of characters that must be present in the simple data type to be considered a "valid" instance.

For base64binary, reflects the number of characters representing the encoded data, not the number of bytes of the binary data.

A regular expression that defines the syntax for the data element to be considered valid.

A syntax intended for display to the user to guide their input (i.e. a human readable version of a regular expression). For example "nnn-nnn-nnn".

The inclusive lower bound on the range of allowed values for the data element.

Data type specified must be the same as the data type for the data element.

The inclusive upper bound on the range of allowed values for the data element.

Data type specified must be the same as the data type for the data element.

Identifies the maximum number of decimal places that may be specified for the data element.

May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the resource, and that modifies the understanding of the element that contains it. Usually modifier elements provide negation or qualification. In order to make the use of extensions safe and manageable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer is allowed to define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension. Applications processing a resource are required to check for modifier extensions.

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.

The uri that is used to identify this element when it is referenced in a specification, model, design or an instance (should be globally unique URI, and an be urn:uuid: or urn:oid:).

Formal identifier that is used to identify this data element when it is represented in other formats, or referenced in a specification, model, design or an instance.

Typically, this is used for values that can go in a v3 II data type.

The identifier that is used to identify this version of the data element when it is referenced in a Profile, Questionnaire or instance. This is an arbitrary value managed by the definition author manually.

There may be multiple resource versions of the data element that have this same identifier. The resource version id will change for technical reasons, whereas the stated version number needs to be under the author's control.

N/A.

The name of the individual or organization that published the data element.

Helps establish the "authority/credibility" of the data element. May also allow for contact.

Usually an organization, but may be an individual. This item SHOULD be populated unless the information is available from context.

Contacts to assist a user in finding and communicating with the publisher.

May be a web site, an email address, a telephone number (tel:), etc.

unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references).

May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element. In order to make the use of extensions safe and manageable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer is allowed to define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension.

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.

May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element, and that modifies the understanding of the element that contains it. Usually modifier elements provide negation or qualification. In order to make the use of extensions safe and manageable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer is allowed to define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension. Applications processing a resource are required to check for modifier extensions.

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.

The name of an individual to contact regarding the data element.

If there is no named individual, the telecom is for the organization as a whole.

Contact details for individual (if a name was provided) or the publisher.

The status of the data element.

Allows filtering of data elements that are appropriate for use vs. not.

A flag to indicate that this search data elemnt definition is authored for testing purposes (or education/evaluation/marketing), and is not intended to be used for genuine usage.

Allows filtering of search data element definitions that are appropriate for use vs. not.

The date that the status for this business version of the data element became effective. (I.e. Date the draft was created, date element became active or date element became retired).

This refers to the "business" version - the DataElement.version which changes based on business processes. It does not refer to the date of the RESTful version which is part of the resource metadata.

The term used by humans to refer to the data element. Should ideally be unique within the context in which the data element is expected to be used.

This may be similar to the question used to prompt someone for a data element value, but the purpose is communicating about the data element, not asking the question. (Refer to the 'question' element for the latter.).

A set of terms from external terminologies that may be used to assist with indexing and searching of data element definitions.

Assist in searching for appropriate data elements.

Identifies how precise the data element is in its definition.

Allows determining whether the degree of comparability of data element instances - less granular data elements result in data that is less comparable (or at least requires more work to compare).

A code that defines the data element in terms of SDC's data element concept value set.

Many data elements may have codes that define the concepts described by the data element. E.g. LOINC, SNOMED, various meta-thesauruses, etc.

The data element definition and other constraints SHALL be a proper constraint on the meaning (as defined in the code system, including relationships) of any code listed here.

Where multiple codes exist in a terminology that could correspond to the data element, the most granular code(s) should be selected, so long as they are not more restrictive than the data element itself.

The default/suggested phrasing to use when prompting a human to capture the data element in question form (e.g. In a survey).

The text to display beside the element indicating its meaning or to use to prompt for the element in a user display or form.

Question and label serve similar purposes in they both can be used to prompt for capturing a data element. Whether the question form or label form should be used will depend on the type of instrument being used to capture the information.

Provides a complete explanation of the meaning of the data element for human readability.

A copyright statement relating to the definition of the data element. Copyright statements are generally legal restrictions on the use and publishing of the details of the definition of the data element.

The copyright statement does not apply to values for the data element, only to it's definition.

Comments about the use of the element, including notes about how to use the data properly, exceptions to proper use, etc.

If it is possible to capture usage rules using invariants, that mechanism should be used in preference to this element.

Explains why this element is needed and why it's been constrained as it has.

This element does not describe the usage of the element (that's done in comments), rather it's for traceability of why the element is either needed or why the constraints exist as they do. This may be used to point to source materials or specifications that drove the structure of this data element.

Identifies additional names by which this element might also be known.

Allows for better easier recognition of the element by multiple communities, including international communities.

The FHIR data type that is the type for data that corresponds to this data element.

If absent, the structure represents a concept rather than an element.

A sample value for this element demonstrating the type of information that would typically be captured.

This will most commonly be present for data where it's not implicitly obvious from either the data type or value set what the values might be. (I.e. Example values for dates or quantities would generally be unnecessary.).

Indicates the shortest length that SHALL be supported by conformant instances without truncation.

If not specified, there is no conformance expectation for length support.

Identifies the units of measure in which the data element should be captured or expressed.

Use a value set if more than one unit of measure is possible.

Binds to a value set if this element is coded (code, Coding, CodeableConcept).

unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references).

May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element. In order to make the use of extensions safe and manageable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer is allowed to define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension.

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.

May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element, and that modifies the understanding of the element that contains it. Usually modifier elements provide negation or qualification. In order to make the use of extensions safe and manageable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer is allowed to define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension. Applications processing a resource are required to check for modifier extensions.

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.

If true, then conformant systems may use additional codes or (where the data type permits) text alone to convey concepts not covered by the set of codes identified in the binding. If false, then conformant systems are constrained to the provided codes alone.

When the binding use used for elements with a type of "code" (rather than Coding or CodableConcept), the binding is treated as non-extensible regardless of the value of this property.

Indicates the degree of conformance expectations associated with this binding.

Describes the intended use of this particular set of codes.

Points to the value set that identifies the set of codes to be used.

The display can contain the value set description. The reference may be version-specific or not.

Identifies a concept from an external specification that roughly corresponds to this element.

Provides guidance to implementers familiar with or converting content from other specifications. May also help formally define the meaning of the element by mapping to a reference model.

Mappings are not necessarily specific enough for safe translation.

• unordered
• open
• discriminators: uri

A mapping that defines the data element in terms of the SDC project's ObjectClass and Property value sets.

Provides guidance to implementers familiar with or converting content from other specifications. May also help formally define the meaning of the element by mapping to a reference model.

Mappings are not necessarily specific enough for safe translation.

unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references).

May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element. In order to make the use of extensions safe and manageable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer is allowed to define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension.

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.

• unordered
• open
• discriminators: url

A concept that represents a set of ideas, abstractions, or things in the real world that can be identified with explicit boundaries and meaning and whose properties and behavior follow the same rules. It may be either a single or a group of associated concepts, abstractions, or things.

ObjectClass and Property are treated as a data model that can be mapped to like any other. This extension merely captures the ObjectClass element as a discrete code. The information conveyed here should also be conveyed in human-readable form in the mapping.map element.

unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references).

May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element. In order to make the use of extensions safe and manageable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer is allowed to define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension.

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.

Source of the definition for the extension code - a logical name or a URL.

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 should be version specific. This will ideally be the URI for the Resource Profile defining the extension, with the code for the extension after a #.

Value of extension - may be a resource or one of a constrained set of the data types (see Extensibility in the spec for list).

A quality common to all members of an object class. A property may be any feature that humans naturally use to distinguish one individual object from another. It is the human perception of a single quality of an object class in the real world. It is conceptual and thus has no particular associated means of representation by which the property can be communicated.

ObjectClass and Property are treated as a data model that can be mapped to like any other. This extension merely captures the Property element as a discrete code. The information conveyed here should also be conveyed in human-readable form in the mapping.map element.

unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references).

May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element. In order to make the use of extensions safe and manageable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer is allowed to define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension.

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.

Source of the definition for the extension code - a logical name or a URL.

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 should be version specific. This will ideally be the URI for the Resource Profile defining the extension, with the code for the extension after a #.

Value of extension - may be a resource or one of a constrained set of the data types (see Extensibility in the spec for list).

May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element, and that modifies the understanding of the element that contains it. Usually modifier elements provide negation or qualification. In order to make the use of extensions safe and manageable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer is allowed to define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension. Applications processing a resource are required to check for modifier extensions.

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.

A URI that identifies the specification that this mapping is expressed to.

A formal identity for the specification being mapped to helps with identifying maps consistently.

If true, indicates that the official meaning of the data element is exactly equivalent to the mapped element.

Distinguishes mappings that approximate the meaning of the element from the mapping that is exactly equivalent to the data element.

A name for the specification that is being mapped to.

Comments about this mapping, including version notes, issues, scope limitations, and other important notes for usage.

This should be expressed as "[uri for object class code system]#[code for object class code system] | [uri for property code system]#[code for property code system]".

For most mappings, the syntax is undefined. Syntax will be provided for mappings to the RIM. Multiple mappings may be possible and may include constraints on other resource elements that identify when a particular mapping applies.