Lithuanian Vital Signs Implementation Guide, published by Lithuanian Medical Library. This guide is not an authorized publication; it is the continuous build for version 0.0.1 built by the FHIR (HL7® FHIR® Standard) CI Build. This version is based on the current content of https://github.com/HL7LT/ig-lt-vitalsigns/ and changes regularly. See the Directory of published versions

Terminology

Terminology Overview

This page summarizes the terminology (ValueSets and CodeSystems) used in the Lithuanian Vital Signs IG. For full definitions and bindings, see Artifacts.

Why this matters: Consistent codes and units enable interoperable exchange and reporting (e.g. to registries and analytics). For clinicians, standardised bindings support correct data capture, automated calculations (e.g. BMI), and reliable use in decision support.

Observation codes

Observation profiles bind to LOINC and, where applicable, SNOMED CT:

• Blood pressure: Panel and component codes (systolic, diastolic, mean) — bp-panel-observation, bp-panel-observation-snomed, bp-systolic-observation, bp-diastolic-observation, bp-mean-observation.
• Heart rate: heart-rate-observation, heart-rate-observation-snomed.
• Body height/length: body-height-observation, body-height-observation-snomed.
• Body weight: body-weight-observation, body-weight-observation-snomed.
• BMI: bmi-observation, bmi-observation-snomed.
• Head circumference: head-circumference-observation, head-circumference-observation-snomed.
• Waist circumference: waist-circumference-observation-loinc, waist-circumference-observation-snomed.

LOINC is required for observation codes; SNOMED CT is optional (extensible) for dual coding where a SNOMED ValueSet is defined.

Units

• Body length/height: e.g. cm, m — body-length-unit.
• Body weight: e.g. kg (via body weight observation bindings).
• Blood pressure: mmHg — bp-unit.
• Heart rate: beats per minute — vital-signs-rate-unit.
• BMI: kg/m² — bmi-unit.

All quantity values use UCUM; the IG restricts allowed units via the listed ValueSets.

Blood pressure context

• Measurement method: bp-measurement-method — how blood pressure was obtained (e.g. auscultation, oscillometry).
• Body location: bp-measurement-body-location — site of measurement (e.g. arm, wrist).
• Cuff size: bp-cuff-size — cuff size when relevant.
• ​Body position: vital-signs-body-position (sitting, standing, etc.).

Heart rate context

• Measurement method: heart-rate-measurement-method.
• Body location: heart-rate-measurement-body-location (e.g. wrist, finger).
• Exertion phase: exertion-phase — rest, during exercise, recovery, etc.

Device types

ValueSets for device type are used by Device profiles:

• device-type-blood-pressure — blood pressure monitors.
• device-type-height-length — height/length measurement.
• device-type-weight — weight scales.
• device-type-heart-rate — heart rate measurement.

Other context

• ​Body position: vital-signs-body-position — used by the body-position extension.
• ​Sleep status: vital-signs-sleep-status — used by the sleep-status extension.
• Measurement environment: measurement-environment — e.g. home, ambulatory.
• Body weight associated situation: body-weight-associated-situation — e.g. dressed, after dialysis.
• Result interpretation: numeric-result-interpretation, waist-circumference-result-interpretation.

CodeSystem

• SNOMED Vital Signs Extension: Local CodeSystem extending SNOMED CT for vital signs concepts used in this IG.

Resolving terminology

Canonical terminology is published at https://tx.hl7.lt/fhir/. Use this base URL to resolve ValueSet and CodeSystem resources and to validate codes in instances.