Before a questionnaire can be filled out, it must first be 'found'. In some cases, workflow will dictate the specific Questionnaire to use - it will be pointed to by a Task to be performed, be included in a CarePlan, referenced by a PlanDefinition or made available in some other way. However, often users will need to search a registry or other repository to find the desired form, clinical instrument, etc. This portion of the SDC specification sets expectations for systems that support storing questionnaires and allowing client systems to search against their repository of questionnaires to find those that meet specified criteria.

Note: the profile for searched questionnaires focuses on metadata and does not include the extensions and elements used in the various other SDC functions (rendering, population, etc.). However, SDC questionnaire form managers SHOULD be capable of storing and returning all such extensions and elements. The Form Manager capability statement defines the search parameters that systems should support.

Elements included in the questionnaire search profile are primarily intended to be displayed to users when exploring candidate questionnaires and deciding which one(s) to fill in. There is no expectation that most (or even any) of the elements in this profile will be displayed to the user when the questionnaire is rendered to be filled in. However, applications are free to expose elements they consider to be relevant/important. (E.g. title, date, status, copyright.)