2nd DSTU Draft For Comment

This page is part of the FHIR Specification (v0.4.0: DSTU 2 Draft). The current version which supercedes this version is 5.0.0. For a full list of available versions, see the Directory of published versions

U.S. Data Access Framework (DAF) Encounter profile (Conformance Package)

Scope and Usage

This profile sets expectations for use of the Encounter resource within the Data Access Framework (DAF) Implementation Guide. This profile identifies which core elements,extensions,vocabularies and value sets must be supported by DAF actors.

For the purposes of this profile, Supported means the following:

    SearchParameters:

  • DAF Query Requestor (client) SHALL be capable of querying the Encounter resource using one or more of the search parameters for data elements tagged as MUST SUPPORT in this profile.
  • DAF Query Responder (server) SHALL be capable of receiving the queries submitted by the DAF Query Requestor and provide Query Results or error responses per the FHIR specifications.
  • DAF Query Responder MAY provide valid or error responses when the query parameters submitted contain data elements which are not tagged as MUST SUPPORT by this profile.

    • Query Results:

  • Query Results returned by DAF Query Responder SHOULD contain the data elements identified as MUST SUPPORT in the profile.
  • Query Results returned MAY contain data elements not tagged as MUST SUPPORT by the this profile.
  • Query Requestor SHALL process the Query Results containing additional data elements without indicating that the response is an erroneous response.

    • Missing Information:

  • When Query Results do not contain a particular data element identified as MUST SUPPORT, Query Requestors SHALL interpret the results to mean that the Query Responder did not have information and there is no further qualifying information as to why the information is missing.
  • In cases, where the Query Responder knows precisely the reason why the data is missing (e.g notasked in the data-absent-reason value set), then Query Responders MAY provide this additional information using the extension element as part of the data element. Query Requestors SHALL correctly process the data-absent-reason extension without rejecting the response as an erroneous response.

Relationship to Meaningful Use

The DAF Encounter profile provides a mapping for the following derived Meaningful Use data elements to FHIR data elements.


Meaningful Use Data Element Name FHIR Resource Mapping
Encounter Start/End Time Encounter.period
Specific Encounter Type Encounter.type
Encounter class Encounter.class
Encounter Location Encounter.location.location
Encounter Admission and Discharge Dates Encounter.hospitalization.period
Performer Encounter.participant.individual
Encounter Reason Encounter.reason

Boundaries and Relationships

This profile relies on the use of other profiles, some required, others available for use "when necessary":

  • DAFPatient which defines DAF Patient profile used by Encounter.subject.
  • US Core which defines common properties related to Patient such as race and ethnicity.
  • FHIR Extensibility defines how extensions can be applied to FHIR resources and data types. Specifically the data-absent-reason extension is used to code data elements with missing information when appropriate.

Profile Details

Profiles:
DAFEncounterDefines constraints and extensions on the Encounter resource for use in querying and retrieving a patient's encounter related information. : U.S. Data Access Framework (DAF) Encounter profile

Example Usage Scenarios

The following are example usage scenarios for the DAF Encounter profile:

  • Query for encounters experienced by a Patient
  • Query for all encounters during a time period
  • Query for all encounters based on class(e.g outpatient,inpatient) and specific encounter type(e.g diabetes,cancer)
  • Query for encounters based on location

Additional Implementation Guidance

Implementers need to be mindful of the following during their implementation

    Specifying Patients as part of the Encounter Queries: DAF Encounter profile supports the querying the Encounters for a particular patient. In order to achieve this in implementation, it is recommended to use Patient.identifier field to precisely identify the encounters relevant to the patient. While other parameters such as Patient.name, Patient.given could be used for the query, it could lead to incorrect Patient matching and/or inefficient queries when systems are not tuned.

    Patient Matching: Patient Matching rules and criteria have to be evaluated by the implementing organization and have to comply with local policies and regulations. Query Requestors will have to deal with result sets that can return zero,one or more AllergyIntolerance Resources in response to a query.