Release 4

This page is part of the FHIR Specification (v4.0.1: R4 - Mixed Normative and STU) in it's permanent home (it will always be available at this URL). The current version which supercedes this version is 5.0.0. For a full list of available versions, see the Directory of published versions . Page versions: R5 R4B R4 R3 R2

http://www.hl7.org/Special/committees/fiwg/index.cfmMaturity Level: N Normative (from v4.0.0) Compartments: Not linked to any defined compartments
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Detailed Descriptions for the elements in the DomainResource Resource.

DomainResource
Definition

A resource that includes narrative, extensions, and contained resources.

Cardinality0..*
TypeResource
Invariants
Defined on this element
dom-2Rule If the resource is contained in another resource, it SHALL NOT contain nested Resourcescontained.contained.empty()
dom-3Rule If the resource is contained in another resource, it SHALL be referred to from elsewhere in the resource or SHALL refer to the containing resourcecontained.where((('#'+id in (%resource.descendants().reference | %resource.descendants().as(canonical) | %resource.descendants().as(uri) | %resource.descendants().as(url))) or descendants().where(reference = '#').exists() or descendants().where(as(canonical) = '#').exists() or descendants().where(as(canonical) = '#').exists()).not()).trace('unmatched', id).empty()
dom-4Rule If a resource is contained in another resource, it SHALL NOT have a meta.versionId or a meta.lastUpdatedcontained.meta.versionId.empty() and contained.meta.lastUpdated.empty()
dom-5Rule If a resource is contained in another resource, it SHALL NOT have a security labelcontained.meta.security.empty()
dom-6Guideline A resource should have narrative for robust managementtext.`div`.exists()
This is (only) a best practice guideline because:

When a resource has no narrative, only systems that fully understand the data can display the resource to a human safely. Including a human readable representation in the resource makes for a much more robust eco-system and cheaper handling of resources by intermediary systems. Some ecosystems restrict distribution of resources to only those systems that do fully understand the resources, and as a consequence implementers may believe that the narrative is superfluous. However experience shows that such eco-systems often open up to new participants over time.

DomainResource.text
Definition

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.

Cardinality0..1
TypeNarrative
Alternate Namesnarrative; html; xhtml; display
Comments

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.

DomainResource.contained
Definition

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.

Cardinality0..*
TypeResource
Alternate Namesinline resources; anonymous resources; contained resources
Comments

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.

DomainResource.extension
Definition

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.

Cardinality0..*
TypeExtension
Alternate Namesextensions; user content
Comments

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.

DomainResource.modifierExtension
Definition

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).

Cardinality0..*
TypeExtension
Is Modifiertrue (Reason: Modifier extensions are expected to modify the meaning or interpretation of the resource that contains them)
Requirements

Modifier extensions allow for extensions that cannot be safely ignored to be clearly distinguished from the vast majority of extensions which can be safely ignored. This promotes interoperability by eliminating the need for implementers to prohibit the presence of extensions. For further information, see the definition of modifier extensions.

Alternate Namesextensions; user content
Comments

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.