Implementation Guide CH VACD
6.0.0-ci-build - ci-build Switzerland flag

Implementation Guide CH VACD, published by HL7 Switzerland. This guide is not an authorized publication; it is the continuous build for version 6.0.0-ci-build built by the FHIR (HL7® FHIR® Standard) CI Build. This version is based on the current content of https://github.com/hl7ch/ch-vacd/ and changes regularly. See the Directory of published versions

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Official URL: http://fhir.ch/ig/ch-vacd/ImplementationGuide/ch.fhir.ig.ch-vacd Version: 6.0.0-ci-build
Active as of 2025-05-22 Computable Name: CH_VACD

Copyright/Legal: CC0-1.0

Introduction

The CH VACD implementation guide describes the FHIR representation of the defined documents for the exchange of vaccination and immunization information. This implementation guide is dependent on the CH Core Profiles CH Core which describes the Swiss specific resources.

Initially the implementation guide was build up based on the CDA-CH-VACD - Immunization Content (eVACDOC) ART-DECOR® specification which has been published by eHealth Suisse. CDA-CH-VACD - Immunization Content (eVACDOC) defines the documents for the exchange of immunization and vaccination information. The documents are based on the IHE Technical Framework „Patient Care Coordination (PCC)“ with the profile „Immunization Content (IC)“. The IHE PCC himself references the HL7 Clinical Document Architecture (CDA).

During the development of the IG a lot of issues popped up which had to be resolved. The fact that the version 2.1 of the CDA was not really in use led to the cut of the reverse compatibility to the CDA in order to be able to set up a proper and usable exchange format based on FHIR.

The circumstance to be able to exchange the information across borders had his influence on the specification. The International Patient Summary Implementation Guide (IPS) gave some support (i.e. Immunization Profile). Using as much as possible international code systems like SNOMED CT®, LOINC, EDQM UCUM will increase the compatibility across borders.

The following documents and messages have been defined:

This implementation guide is under STU ballot by HL7 Switzerland until September 30th, 2025 midnight.
Please add your feedback via the ‘Propose a change’-link in the footer on the page where you have comments.

Changelog with significant changes, open and closed issues.

Download: You can download this implementation guide in NPM format from here.

Scope

This implementation guide describes mainly the exchange formats and handlings around vaccination. It can be used in different ehealth ecosystems and is not only restricted to the Swiss EPR.

MustSupport

The flag mustSupport demands that the content creator must support these elements if they are known. If the sending application has data for the element, it is required to populate the element with a non-empty value. If the value is not known, the element may be omitted. A receiving application may ignore the information conveyed by the element. A receiving application shall not raise an error solely due to the presence or absence of the element. For more information about the exchange format see EPD Anhang 4 Austauschformate.

Narrative Text Generation

The narrative text in the composition of the bundle of type document can be generated using the FHIR XML representation and the defined xslt transformer defined in this implementation guide. For further details see Narrative Text Generation.

Collaboration

This guide is created by RALY GmbH as a mandate of eHealth Suisse.

There was also support from

especially during the executed ballots.

IP Statements

This document is licensed under Creative Commons "No Rights Reserved" (CC0).

HL7®, HEALTH LEVEL SEVEN®, FHIR® and the FHIR ® are trademarks owned by Health Level Seven International, registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

This implementation guide contains and references intellectual property owned by third parties ("Third Party IP"). Acceptance of these License Terms does not grant any rights with respect to Third Party IP. The licensee alone is responsible for identifying and obtaining any necessary licenses or authorizations to utilize Third Party IP in connection with the specification or otherwise.

This publication includes IP covered under the following statements.

Cross Version Analysis

This is an R4 IG. None of the features it uses are changed in R4B, so it can be used as is with R4B systems. Packages for both R4 (ch.fhir.ig.ch-vacd.r4) and R4B (ch.fhir.ig.ch-vacd.r4b) are available.

Dependency Table

Package hl7.fhir.uv.extensions.r4#5.2.0

This IG defines the global extensions - the ones defined for everyone. These extensions are always in scope wherever FHIR is being used (built Mon, Feb 10, 2025 21:45+1100+11:00)

Package hl7.fhir.uv.extensions.r4#5.3.0-ballot-tc1

This IG defines the global extensions - the ones defined for everyone. These extensions are always in scope wherever FHIR is being used (built Sun, Aug 3, 2025 06:28+1000+10:00)

Package ch.fhir.ig.ch-core#6.0.0-ci-build

FHIR implementation guide CH Core (built Mon, Oct 20, 2025 07:51+0000+00:00)

Package hl7.fhir.uv.extensions.r4#5.1.0

This IG defines the global extensions - the ones defined for everyone. These extensions are always in scope wherever FHIR is being used (built Sat, Apr 27, 2024 18:39+1000+10:00)

Package ihe.formatcode.fhir#1.3.0

Implementation Guide for IHE defined FormatCode vocabulary. (built Fri, May 17, 2024 12:02-0500-05:00)

Package ch.fhir.ig.ch-term#3.3.0-ci-build

Implementation Guide for Swiss Terminology (built Mon, Oct 20, 2025 19:09+0000+00:00)

Package hl7.fhir.uv.tools.r4#0.8.0

This IG defines the extensions that the tools use internally. Some of these extensions are content that are being evaluated for elevation into the main spec, and others are tooling concerns (built Tue, Aug 5, 2025 20:09+1000+10:00)

Globals Table

There are no Global profiles defined