5.5 Resource Organization - Content

5.5.1 Scope and Usage

This resource may be used in a shared registry of contact and other information for various organizations or it can be used merely as a support for other resources that need to reference organizations, perhaps as a document, message or as a contained resource. If using a registry approach, it's entirely possible for multiple registries to exist, each dealing with different types or levels of organization.

5.5.2 Boundaries and Relationships

The Organization resource is used for collections of people that have come together to achieve an objective. The Group resource is used to identify a collection of people (or animals, devices, etc.) that are gathered for the purpose of analysis or acting upon, but are not expected to act themselves.

The Organization resource often exists as a hierarchy of organization resources, using the part-of property to provide the association of the child to its parent organization.
This organizational hierarchy helps communicate the conceptual structure, whereas the Location resource provides the physical representation of the hierarchy.
The linkage between Organization and Location is from each point in the location hierarchy to the appropriate level in the Organization hierarchy. These links don't all have to be to the top level Organization.
When populating the organization and location hierarchies there is often not a clear distinction between these 2, however to assist in making the decision, Locations are always used for recording where a service occurs, and hence where encounters and observations are associated. The Organization property on these resources may not be the location where the service took place.

• Structure
• UML
• XML
• JSON
• All

Structure

Name	Flags	Card.	Type	Description & Constraints
Organization	I		DomainResource	A grouping of people or organizations with a common purpose The organization SHALL at least have a name or an id, and possibly more than one
identifier	Σ I	0..*	Identifier	Identifies this organization across multiple systems
active	?! Σ	0..1	boolean	Whether the organization's record is still in active use
type	Σ	0..1	CodeableConcept	Kind of organization OrganizationType (Example)
name	Σ I	0..1	string	Name used for the organization
telecom	I	0..*	ContactPoint	A contact detail for the organization The telecom of an organization can never be of use 'home'
address	I	0..*	Address	An address for the organization An address of an organization can never be of use 'home'
partOf	Σ	0..1	Reference(Organization)	The organization of which this organization forms a part
contact		0..*	BackboneElement	Contact for the organization for a certain purpose
purpose		0..1	CodeableConcept	The type of contact ContactEntityType (Extensible)
name		0..1	HumanName	A name associated with the contact
telecom		0..*	ContactPoint	Contact details (telephone, email, etc.) for a contact
address		0..1	Address	Visiting or postal addresses for the contact
Documentation for this format

<Organization xmlns="http://hl7.org/fhir"> 
 <!-- from Resource: id, meta, implicitRules, and language -->
 <!-- from DomainResource: text, contained, extension, and modifierExtension -->
 <identifier><!--  0..* Identifier Identifies this organization  across multiple systems --></identifier>
 <active value="[boolean]"/><!-- 0..1 Whether the organization's record is still in active use -->
 <type><!-- 0..1 CodeableConcept Kind of organization --></type>
 <name value="[string]"/><!--  0..1 Name used for the organization -->
 <telecom><!--  0..* ContactPoint A contact detail for the organization --></telecom>
 <address><!--  0..* Address An address for the organization --></address>
 <partOf><!-- 0..1 Reference(Organization) The organization of which this organization forms a part --></partOf>
 <contact>  <!-- 0..* Contact for the organization for a certain purpose -->
  <purpose><!-- 0..1 CodeableConcept The type of contact --></purpose>
  <name><!-- 0..1 HumanName A name associated with the contact --></name>
  <telecom><!-- 0..* ContactPoint Contact details (telephone, email, etc.)  for a contact --></telecom>
  <address><!-- 0..1 Address Visiting or postal addresses for the contact --></address>
 </contact>
</Organization>

{
  "resourceType" : "Organization",
  // from Resource: id, meta, implicitRules, and language
  // from DomainResource: text, contained, extension, and modifierExtension
  "identifier" : [{ Identifier }], // C? Identifies this organization  across multiple systems
  "active" : <boolean>, // Whether the organization's record is still in active use
  "type" : { CodeableConcept }, // Kind of organization
  "name" : "<string>", // C? Name used for the organization
  "telecom" : [{ ContactPoint }], // C? A contact detail for the organization
  "address" : [{ Address }], // C? An address for the organization
  "partOf" : { Reference(Organization) }, // The organization of which this organization forms a part
  "contact" : [{ // Contact for the organization for a certain purpose
    "purpose" : { CodeableConcept }, // The type of contact
    "name" : { HumanName }, // A name associated with the contact
    "telecom" : [{ ContactPoint }], // Contact details (telephone, email, etc.)  for a contact
    "address" : { Address } // Visiting or postal addresses for the contact
  }]
}

Structure

Name	Flags	Card.	Type	Description & Constraints
Organization	I		DomainResource	A grouping of people or organizations with a common purpose The organization SHALL at least have a name or an id, and possibly more than one
identifier	Σ I	0..*	Identifier	Identifies this organization across multiple systems
active	?! Σ	0..1	boolean	Whether the organization's record is still in active use
type	Σ	0..1	CodeableConcept	Kind of organization OrganizationType (Example)
name	Σ I	0..1	string	Name used for the organization
telecom	I	0..*	ContactPoint	A contact detail for the organization The telecom of an organization can never be of use 'home'
address	I	0..*	Address	An address for the organization An address of an organization can never be of use 'home'
partOf	Σ	0..1	Reference(Organization)	The organization of which this organization forms a part
contact		0..*	BackboneElement	Contact for the organization for a certain purpose
purpose		0..1	CodeableConcept	The type of contact ContactEntityType (Extensible)
name		0..1	HumanName	A name associated with the contact
telecom		0..*	ContactPoint	Contact details (telephone, email, etc.) for a contact
address		0..1	Address	Visiting or postal addresses for the contact
Documentation for this format

UML Diagram

XML Template

<Organization xmlns="http://hl7.org/fhir"> 
 <!-- from Resource: id, meta, implicitRules, and language -->
 <!-- from DomainResource: text, contained, extension, and modifierExtension -->
 <identifier><!--  0..* Identifier Identifies this organization  across multiple systems --></identifier>
 <active value="[boolean]"/><!-- 0..1 Whether the organization's record is still in active use -->
 <type><!-- 0..1 CodeableConcept Kind of organization --></type>
 <name value="[string]"/><!--  0..1 Name used for the organization -->
 <telecom><!--  0..* ContactPoint A contact detail for the organization --></telecom>
 <address><!--  0..* Address An address for the organization --></address>
 <partOf><!-- 0..1 Reference(Organization) The organization of which this organization forms a part --></partOf>
 <contact>  <!-- 0..* Contact for the organization for a certain purpose -->
  <purpose><!-- 0..1 CodeableConcept The type of contact --></purpose>
  <name><!-- 0..1 HumanName A name associated with the contact --></name>
  <telecom><!-- 0..* ContactPoint Contact details (telephone, email, etc.)  for a contact --></telecom>
  <address><!-- 0..1 Address Visiting or postal addresses for the contact --></address>
 </contact>
</Organization>

JSON Template

{
  "resourceType" : "Organization",
  // from Resource: id, meta, implicitRules, and language
  // from DomainResource: text, contained, extension, and modifierExtension
  "identifier" : [{ Identifier }], // C? Identifies this organization  across multiple systems
  "active" : <boolean>, // Whether the organization's record is still in active use
  "type" : { CodeableConcept }, // Kind of organization
  "name" : "<string>", // C? Name used for the organization
  "telecom" : [{ ContactPoint }], // C? A contact detail for the organization
  "address" : [{ Address }], // C? An address for the organization
  "partOf" : { Reference(Organization) }, // The organization of which this organization forms a part
  "contact" : [{ // Contact for the organization for a certain purpose
    "purpose" : { CodeableConcept }, // The type of contact
    "name" : { HumanName }, // A name associated with the contact
    "telecom" : [{ ContactPoint }], // Contact details (telephone, email, etc.)  for a contact
    "address" : { Address } // Visiting or postal addresses for the contact
  }]
}

5.5.4 Notes:

• There are two places for contact information: one on Organization itself and zero or more using the ContactEntity construct. The first one is to be used for the generic, public organization point of contact. The ContactEntity is to be used for reaching a person or party that has been designated by the organization to be contacted for a specific purpose or goal.

5.5.5 Example Organization Hierarchy:

An example organization hierarchy should help give some guidance as to one example of how a location hierarchy could look within a fictitious Medical Organization.
(The nesting here would be the "part-of" structure of the Organization resource)

Burgers University Medical Center
    Eastern Services (prov)
        Emergency Dept
        Oncology Dept
            Neuclear Medicine Research Trials (edu)
        Maternity Ward
        Childrens Ward
        Day Procedures Unit
    Mobile Services (Ambulance)
    Research Center (edu)
        Neuclear Medicine  (edu)
    Burgers University (edu)
        Neuclear Medicine Faculty (edu)
        Undergraduate Medicine (edu)
        ...
	

Note that physical structures of this hierarchy are not present - these are defined by a Location hierarchy.