Release 4

This page is part of the FHIR Specification (v4.0.1: R4 - Mixed Normative and STU) in it's permanent home (it will always be available at this URL). 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

Security Work GroupMaturity Level: 3 Trial UseSecurity Category: Not Classified Compartments: Device, Patient, Practitioner

Detailed Descriptions for the elements in the AuditEvent resource.

AuditEvent
Element IdAuditEvent
Definition

A record of an event made for purposes of maintaining a security log. Typical uses include detection of intrusion attempts and monitoring for inappropriate usage.

Cardinality0..*
TypeDomainResource
Comments

Based on IHE-ATNA.

AuditEvent.type
Element IdAuditEvent.type
Definition

Identifier for a family of the event. For example, a menu item, program, rule, policy, function code, application name or URL. It identifies the performed function.

Cardinality1..1
Terminology BindingAudit Event ID (Extensible)
TypeCoding
Requirements

This identifies the performed function. For "Execute" Event Action Code audit records, this identifies the application function performed.

Summarytrue
AuditEvent.subtype
Element IdAuditEvent.subtype
Definition

Identifier for the category of event.

Cardinality0..*
Terminology BindingAudit Event Sub-Type (Extensible)
TypeCoding
Requirements

This field enables queries of messages by implementation-defined event categories.

Summarytrue
AuditEvent.action
Element IdAuditEvent.action
Definition

Indicator for type of action performed during the event that generated the audit.

Cardinality0..1
Terminology BindingAuditEventAction (Required)
Typecode
Requirements

This broadly indicates what kind of action was done on the AuditEvent.entity by the AuditEvent.agent.

Summarytrue
AuditEvent.period
Element IdAuditEvent.period
Definition

The period during which the activity occurred.

Cardinality0..1
TypePeriod
Comments

The period can be a little arbitrary; where possible, the time should correspond to human assessment of the activity time.

AuditEvent.recorded
Element IdAuditEvent.recorded
Definition

The time when the event was recorded.

Cardinality1..1
Typeinstant
Requirements

This ties an event to a specific date and time. Security audits typically require a consistent time base (e.g. UTC), to eliminate time-zone issues arising from geographical distribution.

Summarytrue
Comments

In a distributed system, some sort of common time base (e.g. an NTP [RFC1305] server) is a good implementation tactic.

AuditEvent.outcome
Element IdAuditEvent.outcome
Definition

Indicates whether the event succeeded or failed.

Cardinality0..1
Terminology BindingAuditEventOutcome (Required)
Typecode
Summarytrue
Comments

In some cases a "success" may be partial, for example, an incomplete or interrupted transfer of a radiological study. For the purpose of establishing accountability, these distinctions are not relevant.

AuditEvent.outcomeDesc
Element IdAuditEvent.outcomeDesc
Definition

A free text description of the outcome of the event.

Cardinality0..1
Typestring
Summarytrue
AuditEvent.purposeOfEvent
Element IdAuditEvent.purposeOfEvent
Definition

The purposeOfUse (reason) that was used during the event being recorded.

Cardinality0..*
Terminology BindingV3 Value SetPurposeOfUse (Extensible)
TypeCodeableConcept
Summarytrue
Comments

Use AuditEvent.agent.purposeOfUse when you know that it is specific to the agent, otherwise use AuditEvent.purposeOfEvent. For example, during a machine-to-machine transfer it might not be obvious to the audit system who caused the event, but it does know why.

AuditEvent.agent
Element IdAuditEvent.agent
Definition

An actor taking an active role in the event or activity that is logged.

Cardinality1..*
Requirements

An agent can be a person, an organization, software, device, or other actors that may be ascribed responsibility.

Alternate NamesActiveParticipant
Comments

Several agents may be associated (i.e. have some responsibility for an activity) with an event or activity.

For example, an activity may be initiated by one user for other users or involve more than one user. However, only one user may be the initiator/requestor for the activity.

AuditEvent.agent.type
Element IdAuditEvent.agent.type
Definition

Specification of the participation type the user plays when performing the event.

Cardinality0..1
Terminology BindingParticipationRoleType (Extensible)
TypeCodeableConcept
AuditEvent.agent.role
Element IdAuditEvent.agent.role
Definition

The security role that the user was acting under, that come from local codes defined by the access control security system (e.g. RBAC, ABAC) used in the local context.

Cardinality0..*
Terminology BindingSecurityRoleType (Example)
TypeCodeableConcept
Requirements

This value ties an audited event to a user's role(s). It is an optional value that might be used to group events for analysis by user functional role categories.

Comments

Should be roles relevant to the event. Should not be an exhaustive list of roles.

AuditEvent.agent.who
Element IdAuditEvent.agent.who
Definition

Reference to who this agent is that was involved in the event.

Cardinality0..1
TypeReference(PractitionerRole | Practitioner | Organization | Device | Patient | RelatedPerson)
Requirements

This field ties an audit event to a specific resource or identifier.

Alternate NamesuserId
Summarytrue
Comments

Where a User ID is available it will go into who.identifier.

AuditEvent.agent.altId
Element IdAuditEvent.agent.altId
Definition

Alternative agent Identifier. For a human, this should be a user identifier text string from authentication system. This identifier would be one known to a common authentication system (e.g. single sign-on), if available.

Cardinality0..1
Typestring
Requirements

In some situations, a human user may authenticate with one identity but, to access a specific application system, may use a synonymous identify. For example, some "single sign on" implementations will do this. The alternative identifier would then be the original identify used for authentication, and the User ID is the one known to and used by the application.

AuditEvent.agent.name
Element IdAuditEvent.agent.name
Definition

Human-meaningful name for the agent.

Cardinality0..1
Typestring
Requirements

The User ID and Authorization User ID may be internal or otherwise obscure values. This field assists the auditor in identifying the actual user.

AuditEvent.agent.requestor
Element IdAuditEvent.agent.requestor
Definition

Indicator that the user is or is not the requestor, or initiator, for the event being audited.

Cardinality1..1
Typeboolean
Requirements

This value is used to distinguish between requestor-users and recipient-users. For example, one person may initiate a report-output to be sent to another user.

Summarytrue
Comments

There can only be one initiator. If the initiator is not clear, then do not choose any one agent as the initiator.

AuditEvent.agent.location
Element IdAuditEvent.agent.location
Definition

Where the event occurred.

Cardinality0..1
TypeReference(Location)
AuditEvent.agent.policy
Element IdAuditEvent.agent.policy
Definition

The policy or plan that authorized the activity being recorded. Typically, a single activity may have multiple applicable policies, such as patient consent, guarantor funding, etc. The policy would also indicate the security token used.

Cardinality0..*
Typeuri
Requirements

This value is used retrospectively to determine the authorization policies.

Comments

For example: Where an OAuth token authorizes, the unique identifier from the OAuth token is placed into the policy element Where a policy engine (e.g. XACML) holds policy logic, the unique policy identifier is placed into the policy element.

AuditEvent.agent.media
Element IdAuditEvent.agent.media
Definition

Type of media involved. Used when the event is about exporting/importing onto media.

Cardinality0..1
Terminology BindingMedia Type Code (Extensible)
TypeCoding
Requirements

Usually, this is used instead of specifying a network address. This field is not used for Media Id (i.e. the serial number of a CD).

AuditEvent.agent.network
Element IdAuditEvent.agent.network
Definition

Logical network location for application activity, if the activity has a network location.

Cardinality0..1
AuditEvent.agent.network.address
Element IdAuditEvent.agent.network.address
Definition

An identifier for the network access point of the user device for the audit event.

Cardinality0..1
Typestring
Requirements

This datum identifies the user's network access point, which may be distinct from the server that performed the action. It is an optional value that may be used to group events recorded on separate servers for analysis of a specific network access point's data access across all servers.

Comments

This could be a device id, IP address or some other identifier associated with a device.

AuditEvent.agent.network.type
Element IdAuditEvent.agent.network.type
Definition

An identifier for the type of network access point that originated the audit event.

Cardinality0..1
Terminology BindingAuditEventAgentNetworkType (Required)
Typecode
Requirements

This datum identifies the type of network access point identifier of the user device for the audit event. It is an optional value that may be used to group events recorded on separate servers for analysis of access according to a network access point's type.

AuditEvent.agent.purposeOfUse
Element IdAuditEvent.agent.purposeOfUse
Definition

The reason (purpose of use), specific to this agent, that was used during the event being recorded.

Cardinality0..*
Terminology BindingV3 Value SetPurposeOfUse (Extensible)
TypeCodeableConcept
Comments

Use AuditEvent.agent.purposeOfUse when you know that is specific to the agent, otherwise use AuditEvent.purposeOfEvent. For example, during a machine-to-machine transfer it might not be obvious to the audit system who caused the event, but it does know why.

AuditEvent.source
Element IdAuditEvent.source
Definition

The system that is reporting the event.

Cardinality1..1
Requirements

The event is reported by one source.

Comments

Since multi-tier, distributed, or composite applications make source identification ambiguous, this collection of fields may repeat for each application or process actively involved in the event. For example, multiple value-sets can identify participating web servers, application processes, and database server threads in an n-tier distributed application. Passive event participants (e.g. low-level network transports) need not be identified.

AuditEvent.source.site
Element IdAuditEvent.source.site
Definition

Logical source location within the healthcare enterprise network. For example, a hospital or other provider location within a multi-entity provider group.

Cardinality0..1
Typestring
Requirements

This value differentiates among the sites in a multi-site enterprise health information system.

AuditEvent.source.observer
Element IdAuditEvent.source.observer
Definition

Identifier of the source where the event was detected.

Cardinality1..1
TypeReference(PractitionerRole | Practitioner | Organization | Device | Patient | RelatedPerson)
Requirements

This field ties the event to a specific source system. It may be used to group events for analysis according to where the event was detected.

Alternate NamesSourceId
Summarytrue
AuditEvent.source.type
Element IdAuditEvent.source.type
Definition

Code specifying the type of source where event originated.

Cardinality0..*
Terminology BindingAudit Event Source Type (Extensible)
TypeCoding
Requirements

This field indicates which type of source is identified by the Audit Source ID. It is an optional value that may be used to group events for analysis according to the type of source where the event occurred.

AuditEvent.entity
Element IdAuditEvent.entity
Definition

Specific instances of data or objects that have been accessed.

Cardinality0..*
Requirements

The event may have other entities involved.

Alternate NamesParticipantObject
Comments

Required unless the values for event identification, agent identification, and audit source identification are sufficient to document the entire auditable event. Because events may have more than one entity, this group can be a repeating set of values.

Invariants
Defined on this element
sev-1Rule Either a name or a query (NOT both)name.empty() or query.empty()
AuditEvent.entity.what
Element IdAuditEvent.entity.what
Definition

Identifies a specific instance of the entity. The reference should be version specific.

Cardinality0..1
TypeReference(Any)
Summarytrue
AuditEvent.entity.type
Element IdAuditEvent.entity.type
Definition

The type of the object that was involved in this audit event.

Cardinality0..1
Terminology BindingAudit event entity type (Extensible)
TypeCoding
Requirements

To describe the object being acted upon. In addition to queries on the subject of the action in an auditable event, it is also important to be able to query on the object type for the action.

Comments

This value is distinct from the user's role or any user relationship to the entity.

AuditEvent.entity.role
Element IdAuditEvent.entity.role
Definition

Code representing the role the entity played in the event being audited.

Cardinality0..1
Terminology BindingAuditEventEntityRole (Extensible)
TypeCoding
Requirements

For some detailed audit analysis it may be necessary to indicate a more granular type of entity, based on the application role it serves.

AuditEvent.entity.lifecycle
Element IdAuditEvent.entity.lifecycle
Definition

Identifier for the data life-cycle stage for the entity.

Cardinality0..1
Terminology BindingObjectLifecycleEvents (Extensible)
TypeCoding
Requirements

Institutional policies for privacy and security may optionally fall under different accountability rules based on data life cycle. This provides a differentiating value for those cases.

Comments

This can be used to provide an audit trail for data, over time, as it passes through the system.

AuditEvent.entity.securityLabel
Element IdAuditEvent.entity.securityLabel
Definition

Security labels for the identified entity.

Cardinality0..*
Terminology BindingSecurityLabels (Extensible)
TypeCoding
Requirements

This field identifies the security labels for a specific instance of an object, such as a patient, to detect/track privacy and security issues.

Comments

Copied from entity meta security tags.

AuditEvent.entity.name
Element IdAuditEvent.entity.name
Definition

A name of the entity in the audit event.

Cardinality0..1
Typestring
Requirements

Use only where entity can't be identified with an identifier.

Summarytrue
Comments

This field may be used in a query/report to identify audit events for a specific person. For example, where multiple synonymous entity identifiers (patient number, medical record number, encounter number, etc.) have been used.

Invariants
Affect this element
sev-1Rule Either a name or a query (NOT both)name.empty() or query.empty()
AuditEvent.entity.description
Element IdAuditEvent.entity.description
Definition

Text that describes the entity in more detail.

Cardinality0..1
Typestring
Requirements

Use only where entity can't be identified with an identifier.

AuditEvent.entity.query
Element IdAuditEvent.entity.query
Definition

The query parameters for a query-type entities.

Cardinality0..1
Typebase64Binary
Requirements

For query events, it may be necessary to capture the actual query input to the query process in order to identify the specific event. Because of differences among query implementations and data encoding for them, this is a base 64 encoded data blob. It may be subsequently decoded or interpreted by downstream audit analysis processing.

Summarytrue
Comments

The meaning and secondary-encoding of the content of base64 encoded blob is specific to the AuditEvent.type, AuditEvent.subtype, AuditEvent.entity.type, and AuditEvent.entity.role. The base64 is a general-use and safe container for event specific data blobs regardless of the encoding used by the transaction being recorded. An AuditEvent consuming application must understand the event it is consuming and the formats used by the event. For example, if auditing an Oracle network database access, the Oracle formats must be understood as they will be simply encoded in the base64binary blob.

Invariants
Affect this element
sev-1Rule Either a name or a query (NOT both)name.empty() or query.empty()
AuditEvent.entity.detail
Element IdAuditEvent.entity.detail
Definition

Tagged value pairs for conveying additional information about the entity.

Cardinality0..*
Requirements

Implementation-defined data about specific details of the object accessed or used.

AuditEvent.entity.detail.type
Element IdAuditEvent.entity.detail.type
Definition

The type of extra detail provided in the value.

Cardinality1..1
Typestring
AuditEvent.entity.detail.value[x]
Element IdAuditEvent.entity.detail.value[x]
Definition

The value of the extra detail.

Cardinality1..1
Typestring|base64Binary
[x] NoteSee Choice of Data Types for further information about how to use [x]
Requirements

Should not duplicate the entity value unless absolutely necessary.

Comments

The value can be string when known to be a string, else base64 encoding should be used to protect binary or undefined content. The meaning and secondary-encoding of the content of base64 encoded blob is specific to the AuditEvent.type, AuditEvent.subtype, AuditEvent.entity.type, and AuditEvent.entity.role. The base64 is a general-use and safe container for event specific data blobs regardless of the encoding used by the transaction being recorded. An AuditEvent consuming application must understand the event it is consuming and the formats used by the event. For example if auditing an Oracle network database access, the Oracle formats must be understood as they will be simply encoded in the base64binary blob.