FHIR CI-Build

This is the Continuous Integration Build of FHIR (will be incorrect/inconsistent at times).
See the Directory of published versions icon

12.17 Resource Slot - Content

Patient Administration icon

Work Group

Maturity Level: 3

Trial Use

Security Category: Business

Compartments: No defined compartments

A slot of time on a schedule that may be available for booking appointments.

12.17.1 Scope and Usage

Slot resources are used to provide time-slots that can be booked using an appointment. They do not provide any information about appointments that are available, just the time, and optionally what the time can be used for. These are effectively spaces of free/busy time.
Slots can also be marked as busy without having appointments associated.

A slot can have more than one appointment allocated to it. A scheduling system may permit multiple allocations up to a specific number of places. An example of this type of usage could be where the slot is being used for a group service that permits 5 participants at the same time.

A slot can be marked as over-booked indicating that there are too many appointments allocated to it.

In some situations a service may have a specific set of slots reserved for specific uses, such as "walk-ins" or a specific organization has a "standing booking" for Thursday mornings. These should be represented using the appointmentType field with a specified and agreed value.
Security Permissions or specific business rules on the system could enforce that only eligible appointments are allocated to them.

If a service had a weekly schedule created that permitted eight 1 hour appointments each day of a working week (Monday - Friday), this would be constructed by a single Schedule resource with the dates for the start and end of the week set, and then 40 (5x8) Slot resources associated with it.
As appointments fill up the schedule, these slots would individually be marked as busy as the appointments are filled into the slots.
The slots in a schedule do not need to be the same size, and can be different for different days of the week.

Slot instances do not have any recurrence information included. If recurring information is desired, this will be managed outside these resources, or included as extensions.

Note that booking an appointment does not necessarily require that slot resources be identified. When attempting to book an appointment, if the requestor knows ahead of time which schedulable resources are required, then identifying individual slots from the resources' schedules prior to creating the appointment is appropriate. However, in some medical scheduling scenarios, determining which resources are required for an appointment is very complex, and options other than using schedule+slot may be a better solution.

12.17.2 References to this Resource

Resource References: Appointment

Structure

Name	Flags	Card.	Type	Description & Constraints
Slot	TU		DomainResource	A slot of time on a schedule that may be available for booking appointments Elements defined in Ancestors: id, meta, implicitRules, language, text, contained, extension, modifierExtension
identifier	Σ	0..*	Identifier	External Ids for this item
serviceCategory	Σ	0..*	CodeableConcept	A broad categorization of the service that is to be performed during this appointment Binding: Service Category (Example)
serviceType	Σ	0..*	CodeableReference(HealthcareService)	The type of appointments that can be booked into this slot (ideally this would be an identifiable service - which is at a location, rather than the location itself). If provided then this overrides the value provided on the Schedule resource Binding: Service Type (Example)
specialty	Σ	0..*	CodeableConcept	The specialty of a practitioner that would be required to perform the service requested in this appointment Binding: Practice Setting Code Value Set (Preferred)
appointmentType	Σ	0..*	CodeableConcept	The style of appointment or patient that may be booked in the slot (not service type) Binding: hl7VS-appointmentReasonCodes (Preferred)
schedule	Σ	1..1	Reference(Schedule)	The schedule resource that this slot defines an interval of status information
status	Σ	1..1	code	busy \| free \| busy-unavailable \| busy-tentative \| entered-in-error Binding: Slot Status (Required)
start	Σ	1..1	instant	Date/Time that the slot is to begin
end	Σ	1..1	instant	Date/Time that the slot is to conclude
overbooked		0..1	boolean	This slot has already been overbooked, appointments are unlikely to be accepted for this time
comment		0..1	string	Comments on the slot to describe any extended information. Such as custom constraints on the slot
Documentation for this format

See the Extensions for this resource

UML Diagram (Legend)

XML Template

<Slot xmlns="http://hl7.org/fhir"> 
 <!-- from Resource: id, meta, implicitRules, and language -->
 <!-- from DomainResource: text, contained, extension, and modifierExtension -->
 <identifier><!-- 0..* Identifier External Ids for this item --></identifier>
 <serviceCategory><!-- 0..* CodeableConcept A broad categorization of the service that is to be performed during this appointment --></serviceCategory>
 <serviceType><!-- 0..* CodeableReference(HealthcareService) The type of appointments that can be booked into this slot (ideally this would be an identifiable service - which is at a location, rather than the location itself). If provided then this overrides the value provided on the Schedule resource --></serviceType>
 <specialty><!-- 0..* CodeableConcept The specialty of a practitioner that would be required to perform the service requested in this appointment --></specialty>
 <appointmentType><!-- 0..* CodeableConcept The style of appointment or patient that may be booked in the slot (not service type)  --></appointmentType>
 <schedule><!-- 1..1 Reference(Schedule) The schedule resource that this slot defines an interval of status information --></schedule>
 <status value="[code]"/><!-- 1..1 busy | free | busy-unavailable | busy-tentative | entered-in-error -->
 <start value="[instant]"/><!-- 1..1 Date/Time that the slot is to begin -->
 <end value="[instant]"/><!-- 1..1 Date/Time that the slot is to conclude -->
 <overbooked value="[boolean]"/><!-- 0..1 This slot has already been overbooked, appointments are unlikely to be accepted for this time -->
 <comment value="[string]"/><!-- 0..1 Comments on the slot to describe any extended information. Such as custom constraints on the slot -->
</Slot>

JSON Template

{
  "resourceType" : "Slot",
  // from Resource: id, meta, implicitRules, and language
  // from DomainResource: text, contained, extension, and modifierExtension
  "identifier" : [{ Identifier }], // External Ids for this item
  "serviceCategory" : [{ CodeableConcept }], // A broad categorization of the service that is to be performed during this appointment
  "serviceType" : [{ CodeableReference(HealthcareService) }], // The type of appointments that can be booked into this slot (ideally this would be an identifiable service - which is at a location, rather than the location itself). If provided then this overrides the value provided on the Schedule resource
  "specialty" : [{ CodeableConcept }], // The specialty of a practitioner that would be required to perform the service requested in this appointment
  "appointmentType" : [{ CodeableConcept }], // The style of appointment or patient that may be booked in the slot (not service type) 
  "schedule" : { Reference(Schedule) }, // R!  The schedule resource that this slot defines an interval of status information
  "status" : "<code>", // R!  busy | free | busy-unavailable | busy-tentative | entered-in-error
  "start" : "<instant>", // R!  Date/Time that the slot is to begin
  "end" : "<instant>", // R!  Date/Time that the slot is to conclude
  "overbooked" : <boolean>, // This slot has already been overbooked, appointments are unlikely to be accepted for this time
  "comment" : "<string>" // Comments on the slot to describe any extended information. Such as custom constraints on the slot
}

Turtle Template

@prefix fhir: <http://hl7.org/fhir/> .


[ a fhir:Slot;
  fhir:nodeRole fhir:treeRoot; # if this is the parser root

  # from Resource: .id, .meta, .implicitRules, and .language
  # from DomainResource: .text, .contained, .extension, and .modifierExtension
  fhir:identifier  ( [ Identifier ] ... ) ; # 0..* External Ids for this item
  fhir:serviceCategory  ( [ CodeableConcept ] ... ) ; # 0..* A broad categorization of the service that is to be performed during this appointment
  fhir:serviceType  ( [ CodeableReference(HealthcareService) ] ... ) ; # 0..* The type of appointments that can be booked into this slot (ideally this would be an identifiable service - which is at a location, rather than the location itself). If provided then this overrides the value provided on the Schedule resource
  fhir:specialty  ( [ CodeableConcept ] ... ) ; # 0..* The specialty of a practitioner that would be required to perform the service requested in this appointment
  fhir:appointmentType  ( [ CodeableConcept ] ... ) ; # 0..* The style of appointment or patient that may be booked in the slot (not service type)
  fhir:schedule [ Reference(Schedule) ] ; # 1..1 The schedule resource that this slot defines an interval of status information
  fhir:status [ code ] ; # 1..1 busy | free | busy-unavailable | busy-tentative | entered-in-error
  fhir:start [ instant ] ; # 1..1 Date/Time that the slot is to begin
  fhir:end [ instant ] ; # 1..1 Date/Time that the slot is to conclude
  fhir:overbooked [ boolean ] ; # 0..1 This slot has already been overbooked, appointments are unlikely to be accepted for this time
  fhir:comment [ string ] ; # 0..1 Comments on the slot to describe any extended information. Such as custom constraints on the slot
]

Changes from both R4 and R4B

Slot

Slot.serviceType

Type changed from CodeableConcept to CodeableReference

Slot.appointmentType

Max Cardinality changed from 1 to *

See the Full Difference for further information

This analysis is available for R4 as XML or JSON and for R4B as XML or JSON.

Structure

Name	Flags	Card.	Type	Description & Constraints
Slot	TU		DomainResource	A slot of time on a schedule that may be available for booking appointments Elements defined in Ancestors: id, meta, implicitRules, language, text, contained, extension, modifierExtension
identifier	Σ	0..*	Identifier	External Ids for this item
serviceCategory	Σ	0..*	CodeableConcept	A broad categorization of the service that is to be performed during this appointment Binding: Service Category (Example)
serviceType	Σ	0..*	CodeableReference(HealthcareService)	The type of appointments that can be booked into this slot (ideally this would be an identifiable service - which is at a location, rather than the location itself). If provided then this overrides the value provided on the Schedule resource Binding: Service Type (Example)
specialty	Σ	0..*	CodeableConcept	The specialty of a practitioner that would be required to perform the service requested in this appointment Binding: Practice Setting Code Value Set (Preferred)
appointmentType	Σ	0..*	CodeableConcept	The style of appointment or patient that may be booked in the slot (not service type) Binding: hl7VS-appointmentReasonCodes (Preferred)
schedule	Σ	1..1	Reference(Schedule)	The schedule resource that this slot defines an interval of status information
status	Σ	1..1	code	busy \| free \| busy-unavailable \| busy-tentative \| entered-in-error Binding: Slot Status (Required)
start	Σ	1..1	instant	Date/Time that the slot is to begin
end	Σ	1..1	instant	Date/Time that the slot is to conclude
overbooked		0..1	boolean	This slot has already been overbooked, appointments are unlikely to be accepted for this time
comment		0..1	string	Comments on the slot to describe any extended information. Such as custom constraints on the slot
Documentation for this format

See the Extensions for this resource

UML Diagram (Legend)

XML Template

<Slot xmlns="http://hl7.org/fhir"> 
 <!-- from Resource: id, meta, implicitRules, and language -->
 <!-- from DomainResource: text, contained, extension, and modifierExtension -->
 <identifier><!-- 0..* Identifier External Ids for this item --></identifier>
 <serviceCategory><!-- 0..* CodeableConcept A broad categorization of the service that is to be performed during this appointment --></serviceCategory>
 <serviceType><!-- 0..* CodeableReference(HealthcareService) The type of appointments that can be booked into this slot (ideally this would be an identifiable service - which is at a location, rather than the location itself). If provided then this overrides the value provided on the Schedule resource --></serviceType>
 <specialty><!-- 0..* CodeableConcept The specialty of a practitioner that would be required to perform the service requested in this appointment --></specialty>
 <appointmentType><!-- 0..* CodeableConcept The style of appointment or patient that may be booked in the slot (not service type)  --></appointmentType>
 <schedule><!-- 1..1 Reference(Schedule) The schedule resource that this slot defines an interval of status information --></schedule>
 <status value="[code]"/><!-- 1..1 busy | free | busy-unavailable | busy-tentative | entered-in-error -->
 <start value="[instant]"/><!-- 1..1 Date/Time that the slot is to begin -->
 <end value="[instant]"/><!-- 1..1 Date/Time that the slot is to conclude -->
 <overbooked value="[boolean]"/><!-- 0..1 This slot has already been overbooked, appointments are unlikely to be accepted for this time -->
 <comment value="[string]"/><!-- 0..1 Comments on the slot to describe any extended information. Such as custom constraints on the slot -->
</Slot>

JSON Template

{
  "resourceType" : "Slot",
  // from Resource: id, meta, implicitRules, and language
  // from DomainResource: text, contained, extension, and modifierExtension
  "identifier" : [{ Identifier }], // External Ids for this item
  "serviceCategory" : [{ CodeableConcept }], // A broad categorization of the service that is to be performed during this appointment
  "serviceType" : [{ CodeableReference(HealthcareService) }], // The type of appointments that can be booked into this slot (ideally this would be an identifiable service - which is at a location, rather than the location itself). If provided then this overrides the value provided on the Schedule resource
  "specialty" : [{ CodeableConcept }], // The specialty of a practitioner that would be required to perform the service requested in this appointment
  "appointmentType" : [{ CodeableConcept }], // The style of appointment or patient that may be booked in the slot (not service type) 
  "schedule" : { Reference(Schedule) }, // R!  The schedule resource that this slot defines an interval of status information
  "status" : "<code>", // R!  busy | free | busy-unavailable | busy-tentative | entered-in-error
  "start" : "<instant>", // R!  Date/Time that the slot is to begin
  "end" : "<instant>", // R!  Date/Time that the slot is to conclude
  "overbooked" : <boolean>, // This slot has already been overbooked, appointments are unlikely to be accepted for this time
  "comment" : "<string>" // Comments on the slot to describe any extended information. Such as custom constraints on the slot
}

Turtle Template

@prefix fhir: <http://hl7.org/fhir/> .


[ a fhir:Slot;
  fhir:nodeRole fhir:treeRoot; # if this is the parser root

  # from Resource: .id, .meta, .implicitRules, and .language
  # from DomainResource: .text, .contained, .extension, and .modifierExtension
  fhir:identifier  ( [ Identifier ] ... ) ; # 0..* External Ids for this item
  fhir:serviceCategory  ( [ CodeableConcept ] ... ) ; # 0..* A broad categorization of the service that is to be performed during this appointment
  fhir:serviceType  ( [ CodeableReference(HealthcareService) ] ... ) ; # 0..* The type of appointments that can be booked into this slot (ideally this would be an identifiable service - which is at a location, rather than the location itself). If provided then this overrides the value provided on the Schedule resource
  fhir:specialty  ( [ CodeableConcept ] ... ) ; # 0..* The specialty of a practitioner that would be required to perform the service requested in this appointment
  fhir:appointmentType  ( [ CodeableConcept ] ... ) ; # 0..* The style of appointment or patient that may be booked in the slot (not service type)
  fhir:schedule [ Reference(Schedule) ] ; # 1..1 The schedule resource that this slot defines an interval of status information
  fhir:status [ code ] ; # 1..1 busy | free | busy-unavailable | busy-tentative | entered-in-error
  fhir:start [ instant ] ; # 1..1 Date/Time that the slot is to begin
  fhir:end [ instant ] ; # 1..1 Date/Time that the slot is to conclude
  fhir:overbooked [ boolean ] ; # 0..1 This slot has already been overbooked, appointments are unlikely to be accepted for this time
  fhir:comment [ string ] ; # 0..1 Comments on the slot to describe any extended information. Such as custom constraints on the slot
]

Changes from both R4 and R4B

Slot

Slot.serviceType

Type changed from CodeableConcept to CodeableReference

Slot.appointmentType

Max Cardinality changed from 1 to *

See the Full Difference for further information

This analysis is available for R4 as XML or JSON and for R4B as XML or JSON.

Additional definitions: Master Definition XML + JSON, XML Schema/Schematron + JSON Schema, ShEx (for Turtle) + see the extensions, the spreadsheet version & the dependency analysis

12.17.3.1 Terminology Bindings

Path	ValueSet	Type	Documentation
Slot.serviceCategory	ServiceCategory	Example	This value set defines an example set of codes that can be used to classify groupings of service-types/specialties.
Slot.serviceType	ServiceType	Example	This value set defines an example set of codes of service-types.
Slot.specialty	PracticeSettingCodeValueSet	Preferred	This is the code representing the clinical specialty of the clinician or provider who interacted with, treated, or provided a service to/for the patient. The value set used for clinical specialty has been limited by HITSP to the value set reproduced from HITSP C80 Table 2-149 Clinical Specialty Value Set Definition.
Slot.appointmentType	Hl7VSAppointmentReasonCodes (a valid code from appointmentReason )	Preferred	Value Set of codes that describe the kind of appointment or the reason why an appointment has been scheduled.
Slot.status	SlotStatus	Required	The free/busy status of the slot.

Path

ValueSet

Type

Documentation

Slot.serviceCategory

ServiceCategory

Example

This value set defines an example set of codes that can be used to classify groupings of service-types/specialties.

Slot.serviceType

ServiceType

Example

This value set defines an example set of codes of service-types.

Slot.specialty

PracticeSettingCodeValueSet

Preferred

This is the code representing the clinical specialty of the clinician or provider who interacted with, treated, or provided a service to/for the patient. The value set used for clinical specialty has been limited by HITSP to the value set reproduced from HITSP C80 Table 2-149 Clinical Specialty Value Set Definition.

Slot.appointmentType

Hl7VSAppointmentReasonCodes icon

(a valid code from appointmentReason icon

)

Preferred

Value Set of codes that describe the kind of appointment or the reason why an appointment has been scheduled.

Slot.status

SlotStatus

Required

The free/busy status of the slot.

12.17.4 Notes:

Interaction with other Standards

There is a strong desire that implementers of this resource should consider providing the resource in the iCalendar format as an alternative representation. Many 3rd party applications and component providers have parsers and user interface controls to display this information. This may lower the entry point to integrate outside the health-care specific applications, and into the consumer space. This would permit the easier creation of a mobile application that creates appointments in the devices native calendar.
The iCalendar specification can be found at http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2445.txt icon .

12.17.5 Search Parameters

Search parameters for this resource. See also the full list of search parameters for this resource, and check the Extensions registry for search parameters on extensions related to this resource. The common parameters also apply. See Searching for more information about searching in REST, messaging, and services.

Name	Type	Description	Expression	In Common
appointment-type	token	The style of appointment or patient that may be booked in the slot (not service type)	Slot.appointmentType
identifier	token	A Slot Identifier	Slot.identifier
schedule	reference	The Schedule Resource that we are seeking a slot within	Slot.schedule (Schedule)
service-category	token	A broad categorization of the service that is to be performed during this appointment	Slot.serviceCategory
service-type	token	The type (by coding) of appointments that can be booked into the slot	Slot.serviceType.concept
service-type-reference	reference	The type (by HealthcareService) of appointments that can be booked into the slot	Slot.serviceType.reference
specialty	token	The specialty of a practitioner that would be required to perform the service requested in this appointment	Slot.specialty
start	date	Appointment date/time.	Slot.start
status	token	The free/busy status of the appointment	Slot.status