A value set specifies a set of codes drawn from one or more code systems.

An absolute URI that is used to identify this value set when it is referenced in a specification, model, design or an instance. This SHALL be a URL, SHOULD be globally unique, and SHOULD be an address at which this value set is (or will be) published. The URL SHOULD include the major version of the value set. For more information see Technical and Business Versions.

Allows the value set 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.

A formal identifier that is used to identify this value set 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, e.g., to identify this value set outside of FHIR, where it is not possible to use the logical URI.

The identifier that is used to identify this version of the value set when it is referenced in a specification, model, design or instance. This is an arbitrary value managed by the value set 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 value set instances that have the same identifier but different versions. The version can be appended to the url in a reference to allow a refrence to a particular business version of the value set with the format [url]|[version].

A natural language name identifying the value set. 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 alpha-numeric type name to ensure that it is computable friendly. A name should be provided unless the value set is a contained resource (e.g. an anonymous value set in a profile). Most registries will require a name.

A short, descriptive, user-friendly title for the value set.

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

The status of this value set. Enables tracking the life-cycle of the content.

Allows filtering of value sets that are appropriate for use vs. not.
This is labeled as "Is Modifier" because applications should not use a retired value set without due consideration.

A boolean value to indicate that this value set is authored for testing purposes (or education/evaluation/marketing), and is not intended to be used for genuine usage.

Enables experimental content to be developed following the same lifecycle that would be used for a production-level value set.

Allows filtering of value set that are appropriate for use vs. not. This is labeled as "Is Modifier" because applications should not use an experimental value set in production.

The date (and optionally time) when the value set was published. The date must change if and 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 value set changes. (e.g. the 'content logical definition').

Note that this is not the same as the resource last-modified-date, since the resource may be a secondary representation of the value set. 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 individual or organization that published the value set.

Helps establish the "authority/credibility" of the value set. May also allow for contact.

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

A free text natural language description of the value set from a consumer's perspective.

This description can be used to capture details such as why the value set 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 value set 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 profile is presumed to be the predominant language in the place the profile was created). The description is not intended to describe the semantics of the Value Set - there are no intrinsic semantics separate from the codes contained in its expansion. The description should capture its intended use, which is needed for ensuring integrity for its use in models across future changes. A description should be provided unless the value set is a contained resource (e.g. an anonymous value set in a profile). Most registries will require a description.

The content was developed with a focus and intent of supporting the contexts that are listed. These terms may be used to assist with indexing and searching for appropriate value set instances.

Assist in searching for appropriate content.

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

A legal or geographic region in which the value set is intended to be used.

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

If this is set to 'true', then no new versions of the content logical definition can be created. Note: Other metadata might still change.

Normally immutability is set to 'false', which is the default assumption if it is not populated. Note that the implication is that if this is set to 'true', there may be only one ValueSet version for this definition. Immutability tends to be set to 'true' in one of two cases: - Where the value set, by the nature of its usage, cannot change. For example "All specializations of ACT in ActClassCode" - Where there's no safe way to express the "Purpose" such that someone else could safely make changes to the value set definition. Source workflow control must guarantee that the same URI always yields the same definition.

Explaination of why this value set is needed and why it has been designed as it has.

This element does not describe the usage of the value set Instead it provides traceability of ''why'' the resource is either needed or ''why'' it is defined as it is. This may be used to point to source materials or specifications that drove the structure of this value set.

A copyright statement relating to the value set and/or its contents. Copyright statements are generally legal restrictions on the use and publishing of the value set.

Consumers must be able to determine any legal restrictions on the use of the value set and/or its content.

null Frequently, the copyright differs between the value set and the codes that are included. The copyright statement should clearly differentiate between these when required.

Whether this is intended to be used with an extensible binding or not.

It is not required to say whether this intent applies.

A set of criteria that define the content logical definition of the value set by including or excluding codes from outside this value set. This I also known as the "Content Logical Definition" (CLD).

If a locked date is defined, then the Content Logical Definition must be evaluated using the current version as of the locked date for referenced code system(s) and value set instances where ValueSet.compose.include.version is not defined.

With a defined lockedDate the value set is considered "Locked". Otherwise, the value set may have different expansions as underlying code systems and/or value sets evolve. The interpretation of lockedDate is often dependent on the context - e.g. a SNOMED CT derived value set with a lockedDate will have a different expansion in USA than in UK. If a value set specifies a version for include and exclude statements, and also specifies a locked date, the specified versions need to be available that date, or the value set will not be usable.

Whether inactive codes - codes that are not approved for current use - are in the value set. If inactive = true, inactive codes are to be included in the expansion, if inactive = false, the inactive codes will not be included in the expansion. If absent, the behavior is determined by the implementation, or by the applicable ExpansionProfile (but generally, inactive codes would be expected to be included).

Note that in the FHIR terminology framework, "deprecated" does not mean inactive, but in some code systems (e.g. LOINC, deprecated means inactive). Code systems should define what codes are considered to be inactive. If this is not clearly defined (including in the FHIR code system resource), then all codes are assumed to be active.

Include one or more codes from a code system or other value set(s).

All the conditions in an include must be true. If a system is listed, all the codes from the system are listed. If one or more filters are listed, all of the filters must apply. If one or more value sets are listed, the codes must be in all the value sets. E.g. each include is 'include all the codes that meet all these conditions'.

An absolute URI which is the code system from which the selected codes come from.

If there are no codes or filters, the entire code system is included. Note that the set of codes that are included may contain abstract codes. See ''Coding.system'' for further documentation about the correct value for the system element.

The version of the code system that the codes are selected from.

This is used when selecting the descendants of a concept - they may change between versions. If no version is specified, then the exact contents of the value set may not be known until a context of use binds it to a particular version.

Specifies a concept to be included or excluded.

The list of concepts is considered ordered, though the order may not have any particular significance. Typically, the order of an expansion follows that defined in the compose element.

Specifies a code for the concept to be included or excluded.

Expressions are allowed if defined by the underlying code system.

The text to display to the user for this concept in the context of this valueset. If no display is provided, then applications using the value set use the display specified for the code by the system.

The value set resource allows for an alternative display to be specified for when this concept is used in this particular value set. See notes in the value set narrative about the correct use of this element.

Additional representations for this concept when used in this value set - other languages, aliases, specialized purposes, used for particular purposes, etc.

The language this designation is defined for.

In the absence of a language, the resource language applies.

A code that details how this designation would be used.

If no use is provided, the designation can be assumed to be suitable for general display to a human user.

The text value for this designation.

Select concepts by specify a matching criteria based on the properties (including relationships) defined by the system. If multiple filters are specified, they SHALL all be true.

Selecting codes by specifying filters based on properties is only possible where the underlying code system defines appropriate properties. Note that in some cases, the underlying code system defines the logical concepts but not the literal codes for the concepts. In such cases, the literal definitions may be provided by a third party.

A code that identifies a property defined in the code system.

The kind of operation to perform as a part of the filter criteria.

The match value may be either a code defined by the system, or a string value, which is a regex match on the literal string of the property value when the operation is 'regex', or one of the values (true and false), when the operation is 'exists'.

Use regex matching with care - full regex matching on every SNOMED CT term is prohibitive, for example.

Selects concepts found in this value set. This is an absolute URI that is a reference to ValueSet.url.

The value set URI is either a logical reference to a defined value set such as a [SNOMED CT reference set]{snomedct.html#implicit}, or a direct reference to a value set definition using ValueSet.url. The reference may not refer to an actual FHIR ValueSet resource; in this case, whatever is referred to is an implicit definition of a value set that needs to be clear about how versions are resolved.

Exclude one or more codes from the value set based on code system filters and/or other value sets.

Usually this is used to selectively exclude codes that were included by subsumption in the inclusions. Any display names specified for the codes are ignored.

A value set can also be "expanded", where the value set is turned into a simple collection of enumerated codes. This element holds the expansion, if it has been performed.

Expansion is performed to produce a collection of codes that are ready to use for data entry or validation.

An identifier that uniquely identifies this expansion of the valueset. Systems may re-use the same identifier as long as the expansion and the definition remain the same, but are not required to do so.

Typically, this uri is a UUID (e.g. urn:uuid:8230ff20-c97a-4167-a59d-dc2cb9df16dd).

The time at which the expansion was produced by the expanding system.

This SHOULD be a fully populated instant, but in some circumstances, value sets are expanded by hand, and the expansion is published without that precision.

The total number of concepts in the expansion. If the number of concept nodes in this resource is less than the stated number, then the server can return more using the offset parameter.

Paging only applies to flat expansions.

If paging is being used, the offset at which this resource starts. I.e. this resource is a partial view into the expansion. If paging is not being used, this element SHALL not be present.

Paging only applies to flat expansions. If a filter is applied, the count is the number of concepts that matched the filter, not the number of concepts in an unfiltered view of the expansion.

A parameter that controlled the expansion process. These parameters may be used by users of expanded value sets to check whether the expansion is suitable for a particular purpose, or to pick the correct expansion.

The server decides which parameters to include here, but at a minimum, the list SHOULD include the date, filter, and profile parameters passed to the $expand operation (if any).

The name of the parameter.

The names are assigned at the discretion of the server.

The value of the parameter.

The codes that are contained in the value set expansion.

An absolute URI which is the code system in which the code for this item in the expansion is defined.

If true, this entry is included in the expansion for navigational purposes, and the user cannot select the code directly as a proper value.

This should not be understood to exclude its use for searching (e.g. by subsumption testing). The client should know whether it is appropriate for the user to select an abstract code or not.

If the concept is inactive in the code system that defines it. Inactive codes are those that are no longer to be used, but are maintained by the code system for understanding legacy data.

This should only have a value if the concept is inactive.

The version of this code system that defined this code and/or display. This should only be used with code systems that do not enforce concept permanence.

The exact value of the version string is specified by the system from which the code is derived.

The code for this item in the expansion hierarchy. If this code is missing the entry in the hierarchy is a place holder (abstract) and does not represent a valid code in the value set.

The recommended display for this item in the expansion.

Additional representations for this item - other languages, aliases, specialized purposes, used for particular purposes, etc. These are relevant when the conditions of the expansion do not fix to a single correct representation.

The designations provided must be based on the value set and code system definitions.

Other codes and entries contained under this entry in the hierarchy.

If the expansion uses this element, there is no implication about the logical relationship between them, and the structure cannot be used for logical inferencing. The structure exists to provide navigational assistance for helping human users to locate codes in the expansion.