<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><CodeSystem xmlns="http://hl7.org/fhir"><id value="reference-handling-policy"/><meta><lastUpdated value="2026-03-16T22:59:53.445+00:00"/></meta><text><status value="generated"/><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p class="res-header-id"><b>Generated Narrative: CodeSystem reference-handling-policy</b></p><a name="reference-handling-policy"> </a><a name="hcreference-handling-policy"> </a><p>This case-sensitive code system <code>http://hl7.org/fhir/reference-handling-policy</code> defines the following codes:</p><table class="codes"><tr><td style="white-space:nowrap"><b>Code</b></td><td><b>Display</b></td><td><b>Definition</b></td></tr><tr><td style="white-space:nowrap">literal<a name="reference-handling-policy-literal"> </a></td><td>Literal References</td><td>The server supports and populates Literal references (i.e. using Reference.reference) where they are known (this code does not guarantee that all references are literal; see 'enforced').</td></tr><tr><td style="white-space:nowrap">logical<a name="reference-handling-policy-logical"> </a></td><td>Logical References</td><td>The server allows logical references (i.e. using Reference.identifier).</td></tr><tr><td style="white-space:nowrap">resolves<a name="reference-handling-policy-resolves"> </a></td><td>Resolves References</td><td>The server will attempt to resolve logical references to literal references - i.e. converting Reference.identifier to Reference.reference (if resolution fails, the server may still accept resources; see logical).</td></tr><tr><td style="white-space:nowrap">enforced<a name="reference-handling-policy-enforced"> </a></td><td>Reference Integrity Enforced</td><td>The server enforces that references have integrity - e.g. it ensures that references can always be resolved. This is typically the case for clinical record systems, but often not the case for middleware/proxy systems.</td></tr><tr><td style="white-space:nowrap">local<a name="reference-handling-policy-local"> </a></td><td>Local References Only</td><td>The server does not support references that point to other servers.</td></tr></table></div></text><extension url="http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/structuredefinition-wg"><valueCode value="fhir"/></extension><extension url="http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/structuredefinition-standards-status"><valueCode value="normative"/></extension><extension url="http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/structuredefinition-fmm"><valueInteger value="5"/></extension><url value="http://hl7.org/fhir/reference-handling-policy"/><identifier><system value="urn:ietf:rfc:3986"/><value value="urn:oid:2.16.840.1.113883.4.642.4.203"/></identifier><identifier><use value="old"/><system value="urn:ietf:rfc:3986"/><value value="urn:oid:2.16.840.1.113883.4.642.1.193"/></identifier><version value="6.0.0-ballot4"/><name value="ReferenceHandlingPolicy"/><title value="Reference Handling Policy"/><status value="active"/><experimental value="false"/><date value="2021-01-05T10:01:24+11:00"/><publisher value="HL7 (FHIR Project)"/><contact><telecom><system value="url"/><value value="http://hl7.org/fhir"/></telecom><telecom><system value="email"/><value value="fhir@lists.hl7.org"/></telecom></contact><description value="A set of flags that defines how references are supported."/><jurisdiction><coding><system value="http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49.htm"/><code value="001"/><display value="World"/></coding></jurisdiction><caseSensitive value="true"/><valueSet value="http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/reference-handling-policy"/><content value="complete"/><concept><code value="literal"/><display value="Literal References"/><definition value="The server supports and populates Literal references (i.e. using Reference.reference) where they are known (this code does not guarantee that all references are literal; see 'enforced')."/></concept><concept><code value="logical"/><display value="Logical References"/><definition value="The server allows logical references (i.e. using Reference.identifier)."/></concept><concept><code value="resolves"/><display value="Resolves References"/><definition value="The server will attempt to resolve logical references to literal references - i.e. converting Reference.identifier to Reference.reference (if resolution fails, the server may still accept resources; see logical)."/></concept><concept><code value="enforced"/><display value="Reference Integrity Enforced"/><definition value="The server enforces that references have integrity - e.g. it ensures that references can always be resolved. This is typically the case for clinical record systems, but often not the case for middleware/proxy systems."/></concept><concept><code value="local"/><display value="Local References Only"/><definition value="The server does not support references that point to other servers."/></concept></CodeSystem>