Information about a person that is involved in the care for a patient, but who is not the target of healthcare, nor has a formal responsibility in the care process.

A reference to a set of rules that were followed when the resource was constructed, and which must be understood when processing the content. Often, this is a reference to an implementation guide that defines the special rules along with other profiles etc.

Asserting this rule set restricts the content to be only understood by a limited set of trading partners. This inherently limits the usefulness of the data in the long term. However, the existing health eco-system is highly fractured, and not yet ready to define, collect, and exchange data in a generally computable sense. Wherever possible, implementers and/or specification writers should avoid using this element. Often, when used, the URL is a reference to an implementation guide that defines these special rules as part of it's narrative along with other profiles, value sets, etc.

An individual's personal sense of being a man, woman, boy, girl, nonbinary, or something else.

The individual's gender identity is populated in the extension:value.value[x] of the Individual Gender Identity extension and shall contain one of the codes from the Gender Identity Response value set if any of the codes within the value set can apply.

See Australian Bureau of Statics (ABS) Standard for Sex, Gender, Variations of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation Variables, 2020 for further materials.

The pronouns to use when referring to an individual in verbal or written communication.

The individual's pronouns are populated in the extension:value.value[x] of the Individual Pronouns extension and shall contain one of the codes from the Australian Pronouns value set if any of the codes within the value set can apply.

A sex or gender property for the individual from a document or other record

The type of recorded sex or gender is populated in the extension:type.value[x] of the Person Recorded Sex or Gender extension and shall contain one of the codes from the AU Recorded Sex or Gender Type value set if any of the codes within the value set can apply.

The document from which the sex or gender property was acquired is populated in the extension:sourceDocument.value[x] of the Person Recorded Sex or Gender extension and shall contain one of the codes from the AU Recorded Sex or Gender (RSG) Source Document Type value set if any of the codes within the value set can apply.

The jurisdiction that issued the document where the sex or gender was acquired is populated in the extension:jurisdiction.value[x] of the Person Recorded Sex or Gender extension and shall contain one of the codes from the Jurisdiction ValueSet - AU Extended value set if any of the codes within the value set can apply.

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).

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.

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.

Whether this related person record is in active use.

This element is labeled as a modifier because it may be used to mark that the resource was created in error.

Need to be able to mark a related person record as not to be used, such as if it was created in error.

The patient this person is related to.

We need to know which patient this RelatedPerson is related to.

A reference to a location at which the other resource is found. The reference may be a relative reference, in which case it is relative to the service base URL, or an absolute URL that resolves to the location where the resource is found. The reference may be version specific or not. If the reference is not to a FHIR RESTful server, then it should be assumed to be version specific. Internal fragment references (start with '#') refer to contained resources.

Using absolute URLs provides a stable scalable approach suitable for a cloud/web context, while using relative/logical references provides a flexible approach suitable for use when trading across closed eco-system boundaries. Absolute URLs do not need to point to a FHIR RESTful server, though this is the preferred approach. If the URL conforms to the structure "/[type]/[id]" then it should be assumed that the reference is to a FHIR RESTful server.

The nature of the relationship between a patient and the related person.

We need to know the relationship with the patient since it influences the interpretation of the information attributed to this person.

A name associated with the person.

Related persons need to be identified by name, but it is uncommon to need details about multiple other names for that person.

Identifies the purpose for this name.

Applications can assume that a name is current unless it explicitly says that it is temporary or old.

The use of a human name.

Allows the appropriate name for a particular context of use to be selected from among a set of names.

Specifies the entire name as it should be displayed e.g. on an application UI. This may be provided instead of or as well as the specific parts.

Can provide both a text representation and parts. Applications updating a name SHALL ensure that when both text and parts are present, no content is included in the text that isn't found in a part.

A renderable, unencoded form.

The part of a name that links to the genealogy. In some cultures (e.g. Eritrea) the family name of a son is the first name of his father.

Family Name may be decomposed into specific parts using extensions (de, nl, es related cultures).

Given name.

If only initials are recorded, they may be used in place of the full name parts. Initials may be separated into multiple given names but often aren't due to paractical limitations. This element is not called "first name" since given names do not always come first.

A contact detail for the person, e.g. a telephone number or an email address.

Person may have multiple ways to be contacted with different uses or applicable periods. May need to have options for contacting the person urgently, and also to help with identification.

People have (primary) ways to contact them in some way such as phone, email.

Address where the related person can be contacted or visited.

The address is intended to describe postal addresses for administrative purposes, not to describe absolute geographical coordinates. Postal addresses are often used as proxies for physical locations (also see the Location resource).

Need to keep track where the related person can be contacted per postal mail or visited.

Information about a person that is involved in the care for a patient, but who is not the target of healthcare, nor has a formal responsibility in the care process.

The logical id of the resource, as used in the URL for the resource. Once assigned, this value never changes.

The only time that a resource does not have an id is when it is being submitted to the server using a create operation.

The metadata about the resource. This is content that is maintained by the infrastructure. Changes to the content might not always be associated with version changes to the resource.

A reference to a set of rules that were followed when the resource was constructed, and which must be understood when processing the content. Often, this is a reference to an implementation guide that defines the special rules along with other profiles etc.

Asserting this rule set restricts the content to be only understood by a limited set of trading partners. This inherently limits the usefulness of the data in the long term. However, the existing health eco-system is highly fractured, and not yet ready to define, collect, and exchange data in a generally computable sense. Wherever possible, implementers and/or specification writers should avoid using this element. Often, when used, the URL is a reference to an implementation guide that defines these special rules as part of it's narrative along with other profiles, value sets, etc.

The base language in which the resource is written.

Language is provided to support indexing and accessibility (typically, services such as text to speech use the language tag). The html language tag in the narrative applies to the narrative. The language tag on the resource may be used to specify the language of other presentations generated from the data in the resource. Not all the content has to be in the base language. The Resource.language should not be assumed to apply to the narrative automatically. If a language is specified, it should it also be specified on the div element in the html (see rules in HTML5 for information about the relationship between xml:lang and the html lang attribute).

A human language.

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.

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.

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.

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.

An Extension

An individual's personal sense of being a man, woman, boy, girl, nonbinary, or something else.

The individual's gender identity is populated in the extension:value.value[x] of the Individual Gender Identity extension and shall contain one of the codes from the Gender Identity Response value set if any of the codes within the value set can apply.

See Australian Bureau of Statics (ABS) Standard for Sex, Gender, Variations of Sex Characteristics and Sexual Orientation Variables, 2020 for further materials.

The pronouns to use when referring to an individual in verbal or written communication.

The individual's pronouns are populated in the extension:value.value[x] of the Individual Pronouns extension and shall contain one of the codes from the Australian Pronouns value set if any of the codes within the value set can apply.

A sex or gender property for the individual from a document or other record

The type of recorded sex or gender is populated in the extension:type.value[x] of the Person Recorded Sex or Gender extension and shall contain one of the codes from the AU Recorded Sex or Gender Type value set if any of the codes within the value set can apply.

The document from which the sex or gender property was acquired is populated in the extension:sourceDocument.value[x] of the Person Recorded Sex or Gender extension and shall contain one of the codes from the AU Recorded Sex or Gender (RSG) Source Document Type value set if any of the codes within the value set can apply.

The jurisdiction that issued the document where the sex or gender was acquired is populated in the extension:jurisdiction.value[x] of the Person Recorded Sex or Gender extension and shall contain one of the codes from the Jurisdiction ValueSet - AU Extended value set if any of the codes within the value set can apply.

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).

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.

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.

Identifier for a person within a particular scope.

People are known by a variety of ids. Some institutions maintain several, and most collect identifiers for exchange with other organizations concerning the patient. Examples are national person identifier and local identifier.

Whether this related person record is in active use.

This element is labeled as a modifier because it may be used to mark that the resource was created in error.

Need to be able to mark a related person record as not to be used, such as if it was created in error.

The patient this person is related to.

We need to know which patient this RelatedPerson is related to.

Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces.

May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element. 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.

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.

A reference to a location at which the other resource is found. The reference may be a relative reference, in which case it is relative to the service base URL, or an absolute URL that resolves to the location where the resource is found. The reference may be version specific or not. If the reference is not to a FHIR RESTful server, then it should be assumed to be version specific. Internal fragment references (start with '#') refer to contained resources.

Using absolute URLs provides a stable scalable approach suitable for a cloud/web context, while using relative/logical references provides a flexible approach suitable for use when trading across closed eco-system boundaries. Absolute URLs do not need to point to a FHIR RESTful server, though this is the preferred approach. If the URL conforms to the structure "/[type]/[id]" then it should be assumed that the reference is to a FHIR RESTful server.

The expected type of the target of the reference. If both Reference.type and Reference.reference are populated and Reference.reference is a FHIR URL, both SHALL be consistent.

The type is the Canonical URL of Resource Definition that is the type this reference refers to. References are URLs that are relative to http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/ e.g. "Patient" is a reference to http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/Patient. Absolute URLs are only allowed for logical models (and can only be used in references in logical models, not resources).

This element is used to indicate the type of the target of the reference. This may be used which ever of the other elements are populated (or not). In some cases, the type of the target may be determined by inspection of the reference (e.g. a RESTful URL) or by resolving the target of the reference; if both the type and a reference is provided, the reference SHALL resolve to a resource of the same type as that specified.

Aa resource (or, for logical models, the URI of the logical model).

An identifier for the target resource. This is used when there is no way to reference the other resource directly, either because the entity it represents is not available through a FHIR server, or because there is no way for the author of the resource to convert a known identifier to an actual location. There is no requirement that a Reference.identifier point to something that is actually exposed as a FHIR instance, but it SHALL point to a business concept that would be expected to be exposed as a FHIR instance, and that instance would need to be of a FHIR resource type allowed by the reference.

When an identifier is provided in place of a reference, any system processing the reference will only be able to resolve the identifier to a reference if it understands the business context in which the identifier is used. Sometimes this is global (e.g. a national identifier) but often it is not. For this reason, none of the useful mechanisms described for working with references (e.g. chaining, includes) are possible, nor should servers be expected to be able resolve the reference. Servers may accept an identifier based reference untouched, resolve it, and/or reject it - see CapabilityStatement.rest.resource.referencePolicy.

When both an identifier and a literal reference are provided, the literal reference is preferred. Applications processing the resource are allowed - but not required - to check that the identifier matches the literal reference

Applications converting a logical reference to a literal reference may choose to leave the logical reference present, or remove it.

Reference is intended to point to a structure that can potentially be expressed as a FHIR resource, though there is no need for it to exist as an actual FHIR resource instance - except in as much as an application wishes to actual find the target of the reference. The content referred to be the identifier must meet the logical constraints implied by any limitations on what resource types are permitted for the reference. For example, it would not be legitimate to send the identifier for a drug prescription if the type were Reference(Observation|DiagnosticReport). One of the use-cases for Reference.identifier is the situation where no FHIR representation exists (where the type is Reference (Any).

Plain text narrative that identifies the resource in addition to the resource reference.

This is generally not the same as the Resource.text of the referenced resource. The purpose is to identify what's being referenced, not to fully describe it.

The nature of the relationship between a patient and the related person.

We need to know the relationship with the patient since it influences the interpretation of the information attributed to this person.

A name associated with the person.

Related persons need to be identified by name, but it is uncommon to need details about multiple other names for that person.

Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces.

May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element. 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.

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.

Identifies the purpose for this name.

Applications can assume that a name is current unless it explicitly says that it is temporary or old.

The use of a human name.

Allows the appropriate name for a particular context of use to be selected from among a set of names.

Specifies the entire name as it should be displayed e.g. on an application UI. This may be provided instead of or as well as the specific parts.

Can provide both a text representation and parts. Applications updating a name SHALL ensure that when both text and parts are present, no content is included in the text that isn't found in a part.

A renderable, unencoded form.

The part of a name that links to the genealogy. In some cultures (e.g. Eritrea) the family name of a son is the first name of his father.

Family Name may be decomposed into specific parts using extensions (de, nl, es related cultures).

Given name.

If only initials are recorded, they may be used in place of the full name parts. Initials may be separated into multiple given names but often aren't due to paractical limitations. This element is not called "first name" since given names do not always come first.

Part of the name that is acquired as a title due to academic, legal, employment or nobility status, etc. and that appears at the start of the name.

Part of the name that is acquired as a title due to academic, legal, employment or nobility status, etc. and that appears at the end of the name.

Indicates the period of time when this name was valid for the named person.

Allows names to be placed in historical context.

A contact detail for the person, e.g. a telephone number or an email address.

Person may have multiple ways to be contacted with different uses or applicable periods. May need to have options for contacting the person urgently, and also to help with identification.

People have (primary) ways to contact them in some way such as phone, email.

Administrative Gender - the gender that the person is considered to have for administration and record keeping purposes.

The gender of a person used for administrative purposes.

Needed for identification of the person, in combination with (at least) name and birth date.

The date on which the related person was born.

Address where the related person can be contacted or visited.

The address is intended to describe postal addresses for administrative purposes, not to describe absolute geographical coordinates. Postal addresses are often used as proxies for physical locations (also see the Location resource).

Need to keep track where the related person can be contacted per postal mail or visited.

Image of the person.

Many EHR systems have the capability to capture an image of persons. Fits with newer social media usage too.

The period of time during which this relationship is or was active. If there are no dates defined, then the interval is unknown.

A language which may be used to communicate with about the patient's health.

If no language is specified, this implies that the default local language is spoken. If you need to convey proficiency for multiple modes, then you need multiple RelatedPerson.Communication associations. If the RelatedPerson does not speak the default local language, then the Interpreter Required Standard can be used to explicitly declare that an interpreter is required.

If a related person does not speak the local language, interpreters may be required, so languages spoken and proficiency is an important things to keep track of both for patient and other persons of interest.

Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces.

May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element. 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.

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.

May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element and that modifies the understanding of the element in which it is contained 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 can 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).

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.

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.

A language which can be used to communicate with about the patient's health. The ISO-639-1 alpha 2 code in lower case for the language, optionally followed by a hyphen and the ISO-3166-1 alpha 2 code for the region in upper case; e.g. "en" for English, or "en-US" for American English versus "en-EN" for England English.

The structure aa-BB with this exact casing is one the most widely used notations for locale. However not all systems actually code this but instead have it as free text. Hence CodeableConcept instead of code as the data type.

Most systems in multilingual countries will want to convey language. Not all systems actually need the regional dialect.

Indicates whether or not the patient prefers this language (over other languages he masters up a certain level).

This language is specifically identified for communicating healthcare information.

People that master multiple languages up to certain level may prefer one or more, i.e. feel more confident in communicating in a particular language making other languages sort of a fall back method.