ObservationDefinition

Set of definitional characteristics for a kind of observation or measurement produced or consumed by an orderable health care service.

Schema

Elements

Name	Required	Type	Description
publisher		Reference< Practitioner | PractitionerRole | Organization >	The name of the individual or organization that published the ObservationDefinition Details Helps establish the "authority/credibility" of the ObservationDefinition. May also allow for contact.
category		CodeableConcept[]	Category of observation Details A code that classifies the general type of observation. This element allows various categorization schemes based on the owner’s definition of the category and effectively multiple categories can be used for one instance of ObservationDefinition. The level of granularity is defined by the category concepts in the value set.
code	✓	CodeableConcept	Type of observation (code / type) Details Describes what will be observed. Sometimes this is called the observation "name".
identifier		Identifier[]	Business identifier for this ObservationDefinition instance Details A unique identifier assigned to this ObservationDefinition artifact.
permittedDataType		code[]	Quantity | CodeableConcept | string | boolean | integer | Range | Ratio | SampledData | time | dateTime | Period Details The data types allowed for the value element of the instance observations conforming to this ObservationDefinition.
multipleResultsAllowed		boolean	Multiple results allowed Details Multiple results allowed for observations conforming to this ObservationDefinition. An example of observation allowing multiple results is "bacteria identified by culture". Conversely, the measurement of a potassium level allows a single result.
method		CodeableConcept	Method used to produce the observation Details The method or technique used to perform the observation. Only used if not implicit in observation code.
preferredReportName		string	Preferred report name Details The preferred name to be used when reporting the results of observations conforming to this ObservationDefinition.
quantitativeDetails		ObservationDefinitionQuantitativeDetails	Characteristics of quantitative results Details Characteristics for quantitative results of this observation.
id		string	Unique id for inter-element referencing Details Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces.
extension		Extension[]	Additional content defined by implementations Details 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.
modifierExtension		Extension[]	Extensions that cannot be ignored even if unrecognized Details 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.
customaryUnit		CodeableConcept	Customary unit for quantitative results Details Customary unit used to report quantitative results of observations conforming to this ObservationDefinition.
unit		CodeableConcept	SI unit for quantitative results Details SI unit used to report quantitative results of observations conforming to this ObservationDefinition.
conversionFactor		decimal	SI to Customary unit conversion factor Details Factor for converting value expressed with SI unit to value expressed with customary unit.
decimalPrecision		integer	Decimal precision of observation quantitative results Details Number of digits after decimal separator when the results of such observations are of type Quantity.
qualifiedInterval		ObservationDefinitionQualifiedInterval[]	Qualified range for continuous and ordinal observation results Details Multiple ranges of results qualified by different contexts for ordinal or continuous observations conforming to this ObservationDefinition.
id		string	Unique id for inter-element referencing Details Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces.
extension		Extension[]	Additional content defined by implementations Details 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.
modifierExtension		Extension[]	Extensions that cannot be ignored even if unrecognized Details 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.
category		code	reference | critical | absolute Details The category of interval of values for continuous or ordinal observations conforming to this ObservationDefinition.
range		Range	The interval itself, for continuous or ordinal observations Details The low and high values determining the interval. There may be only one of the two.
context		CodeableConcept	Range context qualifier Details Codes to indicate the health context the range applies to. For example, the normal or therapeutic range.
appliesTo		CodeableConcept[]	Targetted population of the range Details Codes to indicate the target population this reference range applies to. If this element is not present then the global population is assumed.
gender		code	male | female | other | unknown Details Sex of the population the range applies to.
age		Range	Applicable age range, if relevant Details The age at which this reference range is applicable. This is a neonatal age (e.g. number of weeks at term) if the meaning says so. Some analytes vary greatly over age.
gestationalAge		Range	Applicable gestational age range, if relevant Details The gestational age to which this reference range is applicable, in the context of pregnancy.
condition		string	Condition associated with the reference range Details Text based condition for which the reference range is valid.
validCodedValueSet		Reference<ValueSet>	Value set of valid coded values for the observations conforming to this ObservationDefinition Details The set of valid coded results for the observations conforming to this ObservationDefinition.
normalCodedValueSet		Reference<ValueSet>	Value set of normal coded values for the observations conforming to this ObservationDefinition Details The set of normal coded results for the observations conforming to this ObservationDefinition.
abnormalCodedValueSet		Reference<ValueSet>	Value set of abnormal coded values for the observations conforming to this ObservationDefinition Details The set of abnormal coded results for the observation conforming to this ObservationDefinition.
criticalCodedValueSet		Reference<ValueSet>	Value set of critical coded values for the observations conforming to this ObservationDefinition Details The set of critical coded results for the observation conforming to this ObservationDefinition.

Search Parameters

Name	Type	Description	Expression
code	token	The code of the observation definition.	ObservationDefinition.code
publisher	reference	The publisher of the observation definition.	ObservationDefinition.publisher

Inherited Elements

Name	Required	Type	Description
id		string	Logical id of this artifact Details The logical id of the resource, as used in the URL for the resource. Once assigned, this value never changes. The only time that a resource does not have an id is when it is being submitted to the server using a create operation.
meta		Meta	Metadata about the resource Details The metadata about the resource. This is content that is maintained by the infrastructure. Changes to the content might not always be associated with version changes to the resource.
implicitRules		uri	A set of rules under which this content was created Details A reference to a set of rules that were followed when the resource was constructed, and which must be understood when processing the content. Often, this is a reference to an implementation guide that defines the special rules along with other profiles etc. Asserting this rule set restricts the content to be only understood by a limited set of trading partners. This inherently limits the usefulness of the data in the long term. However, the existing health eco-system is highly fractured, and not yet ready to define, collect, and exchange data in a generally computable sense. Wherever possible, implementers and/or specification writers should avoid using this element. Often, when used, the URL is a reference to an implementation guide that defines these special rules as part of it's narrative along with other profiles, value sets, etc.
language		code	Language of the resource content Details The base language in which the resource is written. Language is provided to support indexing and accessibility (typically, services such as text to speech use the language tag). The html language tag in the narrative applies to the narrative. The language tag on the resource may be used to specify the language of other presentations generated from the data in the resource. Not all the content has to be in the base language. The Resource.language should not be assumed to apply to the narrative automatically. If a language is specified, it should it also be specified on the div element in the html (see rules in HTML5 for information about the relationship between xml:lang and the html lang attribute).
text		Narrative	Text summary of the resource, for human interpretation Details A human-readable narrative that contains a summary of the resource and can be used to represent the content of the resource to a human. The narrative need not encode all the structured data, but is required to contain sufficient detail to make it "clinically safe" for a human to just read the narrative. Resource definitions may define what content should be represented in the narrative to ensure clinical safety. Contained resources do not have narrative. Resources that are not contained SHOULD have a narrative. In some cases, a resource may only have text with little or no additional discrete data (as long as all minOccurs=1 elements are satisfied). This may be necessary for data from legacy systems where information is captured as a "text blob" or where text is additionally entered raw or narrated and encoded information is added later.
contained		Resource[]	Contained, inline Resources Details These resources do not have an independent existence apart from the resource that contains them - they cannot be identified independently, and nor can they have their own independent transaction scope. This should never be done when the content can be identified properly, as once identification is lost, it is extremely difficult (and context dependent) to restore it again. Contained resources may have profiles and tags In their meta elements, but SHALL NOT have security labels.
extension		Extension[]	Additional content defined by implementations Details May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the resource. 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.
modifierExtension		Extension[]	Extensions that cannot be ignored Details May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the resource and that modifies the understanding of the element that contains it 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 is allowed to 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.

Usage

Note that this content is preliminary has not undergone proper review by the appropriate Workgroups.

An instance of ObservationDefinition represents the definitional aspects of a kind of observation. This resource is used in a catalog of products or services for healthcare. It provides the definition of observations, which are used as input or produced as outcome of these products and services. The focus of the definitional aspects of ObservationDefinition is not on the action of performing observations of that kind. Rather, it is on the outcome of the observations. An instance of ObservationDefinition represents a set of constraints applicable to the value produced by observations of this kind. This set of constraints may have two utilities: 1) It guides the entry of the result of an observation of the kind defined. 2) It helps the consumer of the results of observations of that kind, to interpret properly these results.

For instance, in a catalog of laboratory in vitro diagnostic services, the ObservationDefinition resources describe the observations that should be provided by the orderer alongside with an ordered service (questions asked at order entry or at specimen collection, prior results) as well as the observations that will be reported once the service has been performed.

In a catalog of medications, ObservationDefinition resources can be used to describe observations the result thereof need to be checked against the prescription of a particular medicinal product (therapeutic range, units ...)

In the catalog of tests of an in vitro diagnostic device, ObservationDefinition resources can be used to characterize (absolute range, unit, decimal precision, critical values ...) the observations that will be produced by the IVD tests performed by the device.

ObservationDefinition may be used to characterize observations from any discipline.

Relationships

This resource relates to these other resource:.

• Resource ObservationDefinition is referenced by resource CatalogEntry. This enables items of catalogs, representing healthcare services or products, to declare the observations, which are consumed or produced by these items.
• Observation.basedOn references ObservationDefinition resource.

Referenced By

• ActivityDefinition
• CatalogEntry
• MedicationKnowledge
• MedicinalProductInteraction