<?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>