This page is part of the FHIR Specification (v1.0.0: DSTU 2 Ballot 3). The current version which supercedes this version is 5.0.0.  For a full list of available versions, see the Directory of published versions 
. Page versions: R5 R4B R4 R3 R2

Detailed Descriptions for the elements in the Communication resource.
| Communication | |
| Definition | An occurrence of information being transmitted. E.g., an alert that was sent to a responsible provider, a public health agency was notified about a reportable condition.  | 
| Control | 1..1 | 
| Summary | true | 
| Communication.identifier | |
| Definition | Identifiers associated with this Communication that are defined by business processes and/ or used to refer to it when a direct URL reference to the resource itself is not appropriate (e.g. in CDA documents, or in written / printed documentation).  | 
| Note | This is a business identifer, not a resource identifier (see discussion) | 
| Control | 0..* | 
| Type | Identifier | 
| Summary | true | 
| Communication.category | |
| Definition | The type of message conveyed such as alert, notification, reminder, instruction, etc.  | 
| Control | 0..1 | 
| Type | CodeableConcept | 
| Summary | true | 
| Communication.sender | |
| Definition | The entity (e.g., person, organization, clinical information system, or device) which was the source of the communication.  | 
| Control | 0..1 | 
| Type | Reference(Device | Organization | Patient | Practitioner | RelatedPerson) | 
| Summary | true | 
| Communication.recipient | |
| Definition | The entity (e.g., person, organization, clinical information system, or device) which was the target of the communication. If receipts need to be tracked by individual, a separate resource instance will need to be created for each recipient. Multiple recipient communications are intended where either a receipt(s) is not tracked (e.g. a mass mail-out) or is captured in aggregate (all emails confirmed received by a particular time).  | 
| Control | 0..* | 
| Type | Reference(Device | Organization | Patient | Practitioner | RelatedPerson | Group) | 
| Summary | true | 
| Communication.payload | |
| Definition | Text, attachment(s), or resource(s) that was communicated to the recipient.  | 
| Control | 0..* | 
| Summary | true | 
| Communication.payload.content[x] | |
| Definition | A communicated content (or for multi-part communications, one portion of the communication).  | 
| Control | 1..1 | 
| Type | string|Attachment|Reference(Any) | 
| [x] Note | See Choice of Data Types for further information about how to use [x] | 
| Summary | true | 
| Communication.medium | |
| Definition | A channel that was used for this communication (e.g. email, fax).  | 
| Control | 0..* | 
| Type | CodeableConcept | 
| Summary | true | 
| Communication.status | |
| Definition | The status of the transmission.  | 
| Control | 0..1 | 
| Binding | CommunicationStatus: The status of the communication (Required) | 
| Type | code | 
| Is Modifier | true | 
| Summary | true | 
| Communication.encounter | |
| Definition | The encounter within which the communication was sent.  | 
| Control | 0..1 | 
| Type | Reference(Encounter) | 
| Summary | true | 
| Communication.sent | |
| Definition | The time when this communication was sent.  | 
| Control | 0..1 | 
| Type | dateTime | 
| Summary | true | 
| Communication.received | |
| Definition | The time when this communication arrived at the destination.  | 
| Control | 0..1 | 
| Type | dateTime | 
| Summary | true | 
| Communication.reason | |
| Definition | The reason or justification for the communication.  | 
| Control | 0..* | 
| Type | CodeableConcept | 
| Summary | true | 
| Communication.subject | |
| Definition | The patient who was the focus of this communication.  | 
| Control | 0..1 | 
| Type | Reference(Patient) | 
| Summary | true | 
| Communication.requestDetail | |
| Definition | The communication request that was responsible for producing this communication.  | 
| Control | 0..1 | 
| Type | Reference(CommunicationRequest) | 
| Summary | true |