A curated namespace that issues unique symbols within that namespace for the identification of concepts, people, devices, etc. Represents a "System" used within the Identifier and Coding data types.

An absolute URI that is used to identify this naming system when it is referenced in a specification, model, design or an instance; also called its canonical identifier. This SHOULD be globally unique and SHOULD be a literal address at which at which an authoritative instance of this naming system is (or will be) published. This URL can be the target of a canonical reference. It SHALL remain the same when the naming system is stored on different servers.

Allows the naming system to be referenced by a single globally unique identifier.

Can be a urn:uuid: or a urn:oid: but real http: addresses are preferred. Multiple instances may share the same URL if they have a distinct version.

The determination of when to create a new version of a resource (same url, new version) vs. defining a new artifact is up to the author. Considerations for making this decision are found in Technical and Business Versions.

In some cases, the resource can no longer be found at the stated url, but the url itself cannot change. Implementations can use the meta.source element to indicate where the current master source of the resource can be found.

The identifier that is used to identify this version of the naming system when it is referenced in a specification, model, design or instance. This is an arbitrary value managed by the naming system author and is not expected to be globally unique. For example, it might be a timestamp (e.g. yyyymmdd) if a managed version is not available. There is also no expectation that versions can be placed in a lexicographical sequence.

There may be different naming system instances that have the same identifier but different versions. The version can be appended to the url in a reference to allow a reference to a particular business version of the naming system with the format [url]|[version].

A natural language name identifying the naming system. This name should be usable as an identifier for the module by machine processing applications such as code generation.

Support human navigation and code generation.

The name is not expected to be globally unique. The name should be a simple alphanumeric type name to ensure that it is machine-processing friendly.The"symbolic name" for an OID would be captured as an extension.

The status of this naming system. Enables tracking the life-cycle of the content.

Allows filtering of naming systems that are appropriate for use versus not.

Indicates the purpose for the naming system - what kinds of things does it make unique?

The date (and optionally time) when the naming system was published. The date must change when the business version changes and it must change if the status code changes. In addition, it should change when the substantive content of the naming system changes.

Note that this is not the same as the resource last-modified-date, since the resource may be a secondary representation of the naming system. Additional specific dates may be added as extensions or be found by consulting Provenances associated with past versions of the resource.

The name of the organization or individual that published the naming system.

Helps establish the "authority/credibility" of the naming system. May also allow for contact.

Usually an organization but may be an individual. The publisher (or steward) of the naming system is the organization or individual primarily responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the naming system. This is not necessarily the same individual or organization that developed and initially authored the content. The publisher is the primary point of contact for questions or issues with the naming system. This item SHOULD be populated unless the information is available from context.

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

May be a web site, an email address, a telephone number, etc.

The name of the organization that is responsible for issuing identifiers or codes for this namespace and ensuring their non-collision.

This is the primary organization. Responsibility for some aspects of a namespace may be delegated.

Categorizes a naming system for easier search by grouping related naming systems.

This will most commonly be used for identifier namespaces, but categories could potentially be useful for code systems and authorities as well.

A free text natural language description of the naming system from a consumer's perspective. Details about what the namespace identifies including scope, granularity, version labeling, etc.

This description can be used to capture details such as why the naming system was built, comments about misuse, instructions for clinical use and interpretation, literature references, examples from the paper world, etc. It is not a rendering of the naming system as conveyed in the 'text' field of the resource itself. This item SHOULD be populated unless the information is available from context (e.g. the language of the naming system is presumed to be the predominant language in the place the naming system was created).

The content was developed with a focus and intent of supporting the contexts that are listed. These contexts may be general categories (gender, age, ...) or may be references to specific programs (insurance plans, studies, ...) and may be used to assist with indexing and searching for appropriate naming system instances.

Assist in searching for appropriate content.

When multiple useContexts are specified, there is no expectation that all or any of the contexts apply.

A legal or geographic region in which the naming system is intended to be used.

It may be possible for the naming system to be used in jurisdictions other than those for which it was originally designed or intended.

Provides guidance on the use of the namespace, including the handling of formatting characters, use of upper vs. lower case, etc.

Indicates how the system may be identified when referenced in electronic exchange.

Multiple identifiers may exist, either due to duplicate registration, regional rules, needs of different communication technologies, etc.

Identifies the unique identifier scheme used for this particular identifier.

Different identifier types may be used in different types of communications (OIDs for v3, URIs for FHIR, etc.). Other includes RUIDs from v3, standard v2 code name strings, etc.

The string that should be sent over the wire to identify the code system or identifier system.

If the value is a URI intended for use as FHIR system identifier, the URI should not contain "" or "?" or "," since this makes escaping very difficult.

Indicates whether this identifier is the "preferred" identifier of this type.

Notes about the past or intended usage of this identifier.

e.g. "must be used in Germany" or "was initially published in error with this value".

Identifies the period of time over which this identifier is considered appropriate to refer to the naming system. Outside of this window, the identifier might be non-deterministic.

Within a registry, a given identifier should only be "active" for a single namespace at a time. (Ideally, an identifier should only ever be associated with a single namespace across all time).