This page is part of the FHIR Specification (v0.01: Historical Archive Draft). The current version which supercedes this version is 5.0.0. For a full list of available versions, see the Directory of published versions

Message

A message that contains FHIR resources.

The relative url is /messages

Content

UML Image

<Message xmlns="http://www.hl7.org/fhir">
  <id> mand id Master Resource Id = Message Id</id>
  <threadId> opt id Id of thread of conversation</threadId>
  <instant> mand instant Instant the message was sent</instant>
  <event> mand code Code for the event his message represents</event>
  <response> opt  <!-- If this is a response -->
   <id> mand id Id of original message</id>
   <code> mand code Type of response to the message</code>
   <duplicate> mand boolean if this is not the first response</duplicate>
  </response>
  <source> mand (Device) Message Source Application</source>
  <destination> mand (Device) Message Destination Application</destination>
  <enterer> opt (Person|Device) The source of the data entry</enterer>
  <author> opt (Person|Device) The source of the decision</author>
  <responsible> opt (Person|Organization) final responsibility for event</responsible>
  <effective> opt Interval(dateTime) time of effect</effective>
  <reason> opt CodeableConcept Cause of event</reason>
  <data> cond (Any) The actual content of the message</data>
  <extensions> opt See Extensions   See Extensions </extensions>
  <text> mand Narrative Text summary of message, for human interpretation</text>
</Message>

Schema for Message and an example (or formatted for browser)

Terminology Bindings

Message.event is bound to the concept domain MessageEvent which has the allowed values defined for Event List in the messaging framework

Message.response.code is bound to the concept domain ResponseCode: "The kind of response to a message". Possible values:

ok	The message was accepted and processed without error
error	Some internal unexpected error occured - wait and try again. Note - this is usually used for things like database unavailable, which may be expected to resolve, though human intervention may be required
rejection	The message was rejected because of some content in it. There is no point in re-sending without change. The response narrative must describe what the issue is
rules	The message was rejected because of some event-specific business rules, and it may be possible to modify the request and re-submit (as a different request). The response data must clarify what the change would be, as described by the event definition
undeliverable	A middleware agent was unable to deliver the message to it's supposed destination

Message.reason is bound to the concept domain EventReason: "The reason for an event occurring"

Notes:

The Message resource is a special case; it is only defined for the messaging framework, and is not encountered in other contexts
The Message resource is always found in an aggregation. The resource references source, destination, enterer, author, and responsible may all be included in the aggregation or left out on the basis that the recipient (and any intermediaries) are able to locate/resolve the resources independently. The former would be suitable for loosely coupled systems, and the latter for tightly coupled systems. The messaging conformance statement for an application must describe what aggregation occurs or is required here
The actual content of the data is specified per message event. The data resource is always aggregated

Formal Definitions

The formal definitions for the elements above. Also available as an XML file.

Message
Definition	A message that contains FHIR resources
Control	Mandatory, 1..1
Requirements	Many implementations are not prepared to use REST, and need a message based infrastructure
Message.id
Definition	Unique Id for this message
Control	Mandatory, 1..1
Type	id
Must Understand	true
Requirements	Each message needs a unique identifier so other messages and underlying infrastructure can reference it
Comments	must be unique within a channel, but should be globally unique. UUIDs are recommended
Message.threadId
Definition	Id of the thread - a series of messages that pertain to the same logical sequence, and are all identified by the same thread identifier
Control	Optional, 0..1
Type	id
Message.instant
Definition	Instant the message was sent
Control	Mandatory, 1..1
Type	instant
Must Understand	true
Message.event
Definition	Code that identifies the event this message represents, and connects it with the event definition in the FHIR specification
Control	Mandatory, 1..1
Type	code from MessageEvent
Must Understand	true
Message.response
Definition	Information about the the message that this message is a response to - if it is a response
Control	Optional, 0..1
Must Understand	true
Message.response.id
Definition	The id of the message that this a response to
Control	Mandatory, 1..1
Type	id
Must Understand	true
Comments	this message must have the same threadId as the original message (including missing if the original message threadId was missing)
Message.response.code
Definition	Code that identifies the type of response to the message - whether it was successful or not, and whether it should be resent or not
Control	Mandatory, 1..1
Type	code from ResponseCode
Must Understand	true
Comments	This is a generic response to the request message. Specific data for the response will be found in Message.data
Message.response.duplicate
Definition	True if this is not the first response, because the request message has been received more than once
Control	Mandatory, 1..1
Type	boolean
Must Understand	true
Comments	The request shouldn't be received more than once if reliable message delivery applies, but mostly it doesn't
Message.source
Definition	The source application from which this message originated
Control	Mandatory, 1..1
Type	Resource(Device)
Message.destination
Definition	The destination application which the message is intended for
Control	Mandatory, 1..1
Type	Resource(Device)
Message.enterer
Definition	The person or device that performd the data entry leading to this message. Where there is more than one candidate, pick the most proximal to the message. Can provide other enterers in extensions
Control	Optional, 0..1
Type	Resource(Person\|Device)
Requirements	Need to know for audit/traceback requirements
Comments	Usually only for the request, but can be used in a response
Message.author
Definition	The logical author of the message - the person or device that decided it should happen. Where there is more than one candidate, pick the most proximal to the message. Can provide other enterers in extensions
Control	Optional, 0..1
Type	Resource(Person\|Device)
Requirements	Need to know for audit/traceback requirements
Comments	Usually only for the request, but can be used in a response
Message.responsible
Definition	The person or organization that accepts overall responsbility for the contents of the message. The implication is that the message event happened under the policies of the responsible party
Control	Optional, 0..1
Type	Resource(Person\|Organization)
Requirements	Need to know for audit/traceback requirements
Comments	Usually only for the request, but can be used in a response
Message.effective
Definition	The effective time - the real world time of the even that the message represents. Usually this is just a starting time, but some message events also have an end time (do x for period y)
Control	Optional, 0..1
Type	Interval(dateTime)
Requirements	Need to know for understanding the content of the message
Comments	Usually only for the request, but can be used in a response
To Do	Grahame thinks this is not 80/20. Also, that it reall should be domain modeled, not tucked away here
Message.reason
Definition	The cause of the event - a reason for why this message is being sent
Control	Optional, 0..1
Type	CodeableConcept from EventReason
Requirements	Need to be able to track why resources are being changed and report in the audit log / history of the resource
RIM Mapping	ControlAct.reasonCode
Message.data
Definition	The actual data of the message - a reference to the focus class of the message.
Control	Conditional, 0..1: Mandatory unless the message is a response, in which case the element is optional
Type	Resource(Any)
Must Understand	true
Requirements	Every message event is about actual data, a single resource, that is identified in the definition of the event, and perhaps some or all linked resources
Comments	The data is defined where the transaction type is defined. The transaction data is always aggregated with the transaction resource
Message.extensions
Definition	See Extensions
Control	Optional, 0..1
Message.text
Definition
Control	Mandatory, 1..1
Type	Narrative

This is an old version of FHIR retained for archive purposes. Do not use for anything else
Implementers are welcome to experiment with the content defined here, but should note that the contents are subject to change without prior notice.
© HL7.org 2011 - 2012. FHIR v0.01 generated on Mon, May 14, 2012 09:48+1000.