This page is part of the FHIR Specification (v3.5.0: R4 Ballot #2). 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
. Page versions: R5 R4B R4 R3 R2
| FHIR Infrastructure  Work Group | Maturity Level: 1 | Trial Use | Compartments: Patient, Practitioner, RelatedPerson | 
Detailed Descriptions for the elements in the Basic resource.
| Basic | |
| Element Id | Basic | 
| Definition | Basic is used for handling concepts not yet defined in FHIR, narrative-only resources that don't map to an existing resource, and custom resources not appropriate for inclusion in the FHIR specification. | 
| Control | 1..1 | 
| Type | DomainResource | 
| Requirements | Need some way to safely (without breaking interoperability) allow implementers to exchange content not supported by the initial set of declared resources. | 
| Alternate Names | Z-resource; Extension-resource; Custom-resource | 
| Summary | true | 
| Basic.identifier | |
| Element Id | Basic.identifier | 
| Definition | Identifier assigned to the resource for business purposes, outside the context of FHIR. | 
| Note | This is a business identifer, not a resource identifier (see discussion) | 
| Control | 0..* | 
| Type | Identifier | 
| Summary | true | 
| Basic.code | |
| Element Id | Basic.code | 
| Definition | Identifies the 'type' of resource - equivalent to the resource name for other resources. | 
| Control | 1..1 | 
| Terminology Binding | Basic Resource Types (Example) | 
| Type | CodeableConcept | 
| Is Modifier | true (Reason: This element determines what kind of resource is being represented which drives the meaning of all of the other elements.) | 
| Requirements | Must be able to distinguish different types of Basic resources. | 
| Summary | true | 
| Comments | Because resource references will only be able to indicate 'Basic', the type of reference will need to be specified in a Profile identified as part of the resource. Refer to the resource notes section for information on appropriate terminologies for this code. This element is labeled as a modifier because it defines the meaning of the resource and cannot be ignored. | 
| Basic.subject | |
| Element Id | Basic.subject | 
| Definition | Identifies the patient, practitioner, device or any other resource that is the "focus" of this resource. | 
| Control | 0..1 | 
| Type | Reference(Any) | 
| Requirements | Needed for partitioning the resource by Patient. | 
| Summary | true | 
| Comments | Optional as not all potential resources will have subjects. Resources associated with multiple subjects can handle this via extension. | 
| Basic.created | |
| Element Id | Basic.created | 
| Definition | Identifies when the resource was first created. | 
| Control | 0..1 | 
| Type | date | 
| Requirements | Allows ordering resource instances by time. | 
| Summary | true | 
| Basic.author | |
| Element Id | Basic.author | 
| Definition | Indicates who was responsible for creating the resource instance. | 
| Control | 0..1 | 
| Type | Reference(Practitioner | Patient | RelatedPerson | Organization) | 
| Requirements | Needed for partitioning the resource. | 
| Summary | true |