The EvidenceVariable resource describes an element that knowledge (Evidence) is about.

Need to be able to define and reuse the definition of individual elements of a research question.

The EvidenceVariable may be an exposure variable (intervention, condition, or state), a measured variable (outcome or observed parameter), or other variable (such as confounding factor).

An absolute URI that is used to identify this evidence variable 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 evidence variable is (or will be) published. This URL can be the target of a canonical reference. It SHALL remain the same when the evidence variable is stored on different servers.

Allows the evidence variable 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.

A formal identifier that is used to identify this evidence variable when it is represented in other formats, or referenced in a specification, model, design or an instance.

Allows externally provided and/or usable business identifiers to be easily associated with the module.

Typically, this is used for identifiers that can go in an HL7 V3 II (instance identifier) data type, and can then identify this evidence variable outside of FHIR, where it is not possible to use the logical URI.

The identifier that is used to identify this version of the evidence variable when it is referenced in a specification, model, design or instance. This is an arbitrary value managed by the evidence variable 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. To provide a version consistent with the Decision Support Service specification, use the format Major.Minor.Revision (e.g. 1.0.0). For more information on versioning knowledge assets, refer to the Decision Support Service specification. Note that a version is required for non-experimental active artifacts.

There may be different evidence variable 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 evidence variable with the format [url]|[version].

A natural language name identifying the evidence variable. 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.

A short, descriptive, user-friendly title for the evidence variable.

This name does not need to be machine-processing friendly and may contain punctuation, white-space, etc.

The short title provides an alternate title for use in informal descriptive contexts where the full, formal title is not necessary.

Need to be able to reference the content by a short description, but still provide a longer, more formal title for the content.

An explanatory or alternate title for the EvidenceVariable giving additional information about its content.

The status of this evidence variable. Enables tracking the life-cycle of the content.

Allows filtering of evidence variables that are appropriate for use versus not.

The date (and optionally time) when the evidence variable 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 evidence variable changes.

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

A free text natural language description of the evidence variable from a consumer's perspective.

This description can be used to capture details such as why the evidence variable 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 evidence variable 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 evidence variable is presumed to be the predominant language in the place the evidence variable was created).

A human-readable string to clarify or explain concepts about the resource.

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 evidence variable instances.

Assist in searching for appropriate content.

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

The name of the organization or individual that published the evidence variable.

Helps establish the "authority/credibility" of the evidence variable. May also allow for contact.

Usually an organization but may be an individual. The publisher (or steward) of the evidence variable is the organization or individual primarily responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the evidence variable. 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 evidence variable. 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.

Extensions to ContactDetail include: contactReference, contactAddress, and contributionTime (Details at: http://build.fhir.org/clinicalreasoning-module.html).

An individiual or organization primarily involved in the creation and maintenance of the content.

Extensions to ContactDetail include: contactReference, contactAddress, and contributionTime (Details at: http://build.fhir.org/clinicalreasoning-module.html).

An individual or organization primarily responsible for internal coherence of the content.

Extensions to ContactDetail include: contactReference, contactAddress, and contributionTime (Details at: http://build.fhir.org/clinicalreasoning-module.html).

An individual or organization primarily responsible for review of some aspect of the content.

Extensions to ContactDetail include: contactReference, contactAddress, and contributionTime (Details at: http://build.fhir.org/clinicalreasoning-module.html).

An individual or organization responsible for officially endorsing the content for use in some setting.

Extensions to ContactDetail include: contactReference, contactAddress, and contributionTime (Details at: http://build.fhir.org/clinicalreasoning-module.html).

Related artifacts such as additional documentation, justification, or bibliographic references.

EvidenceVariables must be able to provide enough information for consumers of the content (and/or interventions or results produced by the content) to be able to determine and understand the justification for and evidence in support of the content.

Each related artifact is either an attachment, or a reference to another resource, but not both.

True if the actual variable measured, false if a conceptual representation of the intended variable.

Used to specify if two or more characteristics are combined with OR or AND.

A characteristic that defines the members of the evidence element. Multiple characteristics are applied with "and" semantics.

Characteristics can be defined flexibly to accommodate different use cases for membership criteria, ranging from simple codes, all the way to using an expression language to express the criteria.

A short, natural language description of the characteristic that could be used to communicate the criteria to an end-user.

Need to be able to describe characteristics in natural language so that end users can understand the criteria.

Define members of the evidence element using Codes (such as condition, medication, or observation), Expressions ( using an expression language such as FHIRPath or CQL) or DataRequirements (such as Diabetes diagnosis onset in the last year).

Need to be able to define members in simple codes when the membership aligns well with terminology, with common criteria such as observations in a value set or lab tests within a year, or with expression language to support criteria that do not fit in the above.

Method used for describing characteristic.

Device used for determining characteristic.

When true, members with this characteristic are excluded from the element.

Indicates duration, period, or point of observation from the participant's study entry.

A short, natural language description.

Used to express the observation at a defined amount of time after the study start.

Used to express the observation within a period after the study start.

A human-readable string to clarify or explain concepts about the resource.

Indicates how elements are aggregated within the study effective period.

Used for an outcome to classify.

A grouping (or set of values) described along with other groupings to specify the set of groupings allowed for the variable.

A human-readable title or representation of the grouping.

Value or set of values that define the grouping.