Release 5

This page is part of the FHIR Specification (v5.0.0: R5 - STU). This is the current published version in it's permanent home (it will always be available at this URL). For a full list of available versions, see the Directory of published versions . Page versions: R5 R4B R4 R3 R2

Example Observation/example (XML)

Orders and Observations Work GroupMaturity Level: N/AStandards Status: InformativeCompartments: Device, Encounter, Patient, Practitioner, RelatedPerson

Raw XML (canonical form + also see XML Format Specification)

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Simple Weight Example (id = "example")

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<Observation xmlns="http://hl7.org/fhir">
  <id value="example"/> 
      <!--     the mandatory quality flags:     -->
  <text> <status value="generated"/> <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p> <b> Generated Narrative: Observation</b> <a name="example"> </a> </p> <div style="display: inline-block; background-color: #d9e0e7; padding: 6px; margin: 4px; border:
       1px solid #8da1b4; border-radius: 5px; line-height: 60%"><p style="margin-bottom: 0px">Resource Observation &quot;example&quot; </p> </div> <p> <b> status</b> : <span title="   the mandatory quality flags:   ">final</span> </p> <p> <b> category</b> : <span title="  category code is A code that classifies the general type of observation being
         made. This is used for searching, sorting and display purposes. ">Vital Signs <span style="background: LightGoldenRodYellow; margin: 4px; border: 1px solid khaki"> (<a href="http://terminology.hl7.org/5.1.0/CodeSystem-observation-category.html">Observation Category Codes</a> #vital-signs)</span> </span> </p> <p> <b> code</b> : <span title="  
    Observations are often coded in multiple code systems.
      - LOINC provides codes of varying granularity (though not usefully more specific
         in this particular case) and more generic LOINCs  can be mapped to more specific
         codes as shown here
      - snomed provides a clinically relevant code that is usually less granular
         than LOINC
      - the source system provides its own code, which may be less or more granular
         than LOINC
    ">Body Weight <span style="background: LightGoldenRodYellow; margin: 4px; border: 1px solid khaki"> (<a href="https://loinc.org/">LOINC</a> #29463-7; <a href="https://loinc.org/">LOINC</a> #3141-9 &quot;Body weight Measured&quot;; <a href="https://browser.ihtsdotools.org/">SNOMED CT</a> #27113001 &quot;Body weight&quot;; clinical-codes#body-weight)</span> </span> </p> <p> <b> subject</b> : <a href="patient-example.html">Patient/example</a>  &quot;Peter CHALMERS&quot;</p> <p> <b> encounter</b> : <a href="encounter-example.html">Encounter/example</a> </p> <p> <b> effective</b> : 2016-03-28</p> <p> <b> value</b> : <span title="   In FHIR, units may be represented twice. Once in the
    agreed human representation, and once in a coded form.
    Both is best, since it's not always possible to infer
    one from the other in code.

    When a computable unit is provided, UCUM (http://unitsofmeasure.org)
    is always preferred, but it doesn't provide notional units (such as
    &quot;tablet&quot;), etc. For these, something else is required (e.g. SNOMED
         CT)
     ">185 lbs<span style="background: LightGoldenRodYellow"> (Details: UCUM code [lb_av] = 'lb_av')</span> </span> </p> </div> </text> <status value="final"/> 
      <!--    category code is A code that classifies the general type of observation being
   made. This is used for searching, sorting and display purposes.   -->
  <category> 
    <coding> 
      <system value="http://terminology.hl7.org/CodeSystem/observation-category"/> 
      <code value="vital-signs"/> 
      <display value="Vital Signs"/> 
    </coding> 
  </category> 
      <!--    
    Observations are often coded in multiple code systems.
      - LOINC provides codes of varying granularity (though not usefully more specific
   in this particular case) and more generic LOINCs  can be mapped to more specific
   codes as shown here
      - snomed provides a clinically relevant code that is usually less granular
   than LOINC
      - the source system provides its own code, which may be less or more granular
   than LOINC
      -->
  <code> 
        <!--     LOINC - always recommended to have a LOINC code     -->
    <coding> 
      <system value="http://loinc.org"/> 
      <code value="29463-7"/>      <!--   more generic methodless LOINC   -->
      <display value="Body Weight"/> 
    </coding> 
    <coding> 
      <system value="http://loinc.org"/> 
      <code value="3141-9"/>     <!--   translation is more specific method = measured LOINC   -->
      <display value="Body weight Measured"/> 
    </coding> 
        <!--     SNOMED CT Codes - becoming more common     -->
    <coding> 
      <system value="http://snomed.info/sct"/> 
      <code value="27113001"/> 
      <display value="Body weight"/> 
    </coding> 
        <!--     Also, a local code specific to the source system     -->
    <coding> 
      <system value="http://acme.org/devices/clinical-codes"/> 
      <code value="body-weight"/> 
      <display value="Body Weight"/> 
    </coding> 
  </code> 
  <subject> 
    <reference value="Patient/example"/> 
  </subject> 
  <encounter> 
    <reference value="Encounter/example"/> 
  </encounter> 
  <effectiveDateTime value="2016-03-28"/> 
      <!--     In FHIR, units may be represented twice. Once in the
    agreed human representation, and once in a coded form.
    Both is best, since it's not always possible to infer
    one from the other in code.

    When a computable unit is provided, UCUM (http://unitsofmeasure.org)
    is always preferred, but it doesn't provide notional units (such as
    "tablet"), etc. For these, something else is required (e.g. SNOMED CT)
       -->
  <valueQuantity> 
    <value value="185"/> 
    <unit value="lbs"/> 
    <system value="http://unitsofmeasure.org"/> 
    <code value="[lb_av]"/> 
  </valueQuantity> 
</Observation> 

Usage note: every effort has been made to ensure that the examples are correct and useful, but they are not a normative part of the specification.