Path | Short | Definition | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
System of unique identification | A curated namespace that issues unique symbols within that namespace for the identification of concepts, people, devices, etc. Represents a "System" used within the Identifier and Coding data types. | ||
name | Name for this naming system (computer friendly) | A natural language name identifying the naming system. This name should be usable as an identifier for the module by machine processing applications such as code generation. | The name is not expected to be globally unique. The name should be a simple alphanumeric type name to ensure that it is machine-processing friendly.The"symbolic name" for an OID would be captured as an extension. |
status | draft | active | retired | unknown | The status of this naming system. Enables tracking the life-cycle of the content. | Allows filtering of naming systems that are appropriate for use versus not. |
kind | codesystem | identifier | root | Indicates the purpose for the naming system - what kinds of things does it make unique? | |
date | Date last changed | The date (and optionally time) when the naming system was published. The date must change 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 naming system changes. | Note that this is not the same as the resource last-modified-date, since the resource may be a secondary representation of the naming system. Additional specific dates may be added as extensions or be found by consulting Provenances associated with past versions of the resource. |
publisher | Name of the publisher (organization or individual) | The name of the organization or individual that published the naming system. | Usually an organization but may be an individual. The publisher (or steward) of the naming system is the organization or individual primarily responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the naming system. 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 naming system. This item SHOULD be populated unless the information is available from context. |
contact | Contact details for the publisher | 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. |
responsible | Who maintains system namespace? | The name of the organization that is responsible for issuing identifiers or codes for this namespace and ensuring their non-collision. | This is the primary organization. Responsibility for some aspects of a namespace may be delegated. |
type | e.g. driver, provider, patient, bank etc. | Categorizes a naming system for easier search by grouping related naming systems. | This will most commonly be used for identifier namespaces, but categories could potentially be useful for code systems and authorities as well. |
description | Natural language description of the naming system | A free text natural language description of the naming system from a consumer's perspective. Details about what the namespace identifies including scope, granularity, version labeling, etc. | This description can be used to capture details such as why the naming system 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 naming system 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 naming system is presumed to be the predominant language in the place the naming system was created). |
useContext | The context that the content is intended to support | The content was developed with a focus and intent of supporting the contexts that are listed. These contexts may be general categories (gender, age, ...) or may be references to specific programs (insurance plans, studies, ...) and may be used to assist with indexing and searching for appropriate naming system instances. | When multiple useContexts are specified, there is no expectation that all or any of the contexts apply. |
jurisdiction | Intended jurisdiction for naming system (if applicable) | A legal or geographic region in which the naming system is intended to be used. | It may be possible for the naming system to be used in jurisdictions other than those for which it was originally designed or intended. |
usage | How/where is it used | Provides guidance on the use of the namespace, including the handling of formatting characters, use of upper vs. lower case, etc. | |
uniqueId | Unique identifiers used for system | Indicates how the system may be identified when referenced in electronic exchange. | Multiple identifiers may exist, either due to duplicate registration, regional rules, needs of different communication technologies, etc. |
uniqueId.id | Unique id for inter-element referencing | Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces. | |
uniqueId.extension | Additional content defined by implementations | May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element. To make the use of extensions safe and manageable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension. | There can be no stigma associated with the use of extensions by any application, project, or standard - regardless of the institution or jurisdiction that uses or defines the extensions. The use of extensions is what allows the FHIR specification to retain a core level of simplicity for everyone. |
uniqueId.modifierExtension | Extensions that cannot be ignored even if unrecognized | May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element and that modifies the understanding of the element in which it is contained and/or the understanding of the containing element's descendants. Usually modifier elements provide negation or qualification. To make the use of extensions safe and manageable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension. Applications processing a resource are required to check for modifier extensions. Modifier extensions SHALL NOT change the meaning of any elements on Resource or DomainResource (including cannot change the meaning of modifierExtension itself). | There can be no stigma associated with the use of extensions by any application, project, or standard - regardless of the institution or jurisdiction that uses or defines the extensions. The use of extensions is what allows the FHIR specification to retain a core level of simplicity for everyone. |
uniqueId.type | oid | uuid | uri | other | Identifies the unique identifier scheme used for this particular identifier. | Different identifier types may be used in different types of communications (OIDs for v3, URIs for FHIR, etc.). Other includes RUIDs from v3, standard v2 code name strings, etc. |
uniqueId.value | The unique identifier | The string that should be sent over the wire to identify the code system or identifier system. | If the value is a URI intended for use as FHIR system identifier, the URI should not contain "\" or "?" or "," since this makes escaping very difficult. |
uniqueId.preferred | Is this the id that should be used for this type | Indicates whether this identifier is the "preferred" identifier of this type. | |
uniqueId.comment | Notes about identifier usage | Notes about the past or intended usage of this identifier. | e.g. "must be used in Germany" or "was initially published in error with this value". |
uniqueId.period | When is identifier valid? | Identifies the period of time over which this identifier is considered appropriate to refer to the naming system. Outside of this window, the identifier might be non-deterministic. | Within a registry, a given identifier should only be "active" for a single namespace at a time. (Ideally, an identifier should only ever be associated with a single namespace across all time). |
Defines a specific code system or identifier system, so that it can be noted in a registry for other systems to find and understand an identifier.
The CodeSystem
resource defines the content of a code system, and also its preferred identifier.
The NamingSystem
resource identifies the existence of a code or identifier system, and its possible and preferred identifiers.
The key difference between the resources is who creates and manages them - CodeSystem
resources are managed
by the owner of the code system resource, who can properly define the features and content of the code system.
NamingSystem
resources, on the other hand, are frequently defined by 3rd parties that encounter the
code system in use, and need to describe the use, but do not have the authority to define the features and content.
Additionally, there may be multiple authoritative NamingSystem
resources for a code system, but there
should only be one CodeSystem
resource.
For discussion of policy for creating well maintained OIDs and URIs for resources, see The HL7 Confluence site.
In some cases, the same code or identifier system might accidentally be created more than once in a registry, for example because someone failed to check
for an existing entry before adding a new one or knows the same concept with a different name. If this occurs, one of the system entries should be deleted
and the remaining entry should have its uniqueId
updated to include any identifiers present on the original entry (and possibly have its descriptive
information modified to include additional information from the duplicate entry).
contact | Name of an individual to contact | NamingSystem.contact.name |
id-type | oid | uuid | uri | other | NamingSystem.uniqueId.type |
kind | codesystem | identifier | root | NamingSystem.kind |
period | When is identifier valid? | NamingSystem.uniqueId.period |
responsible | Who maintains system namespace? | NamingSystem.responsible |
telecom | Contact details for individual or organization | NamingSystem.contact.telecom |
type | e.g. driver, provider, patient, bank etc. | NamingSystem.type |
value | The unique identifier | NamingSystem.uniqueId.value |