FHIR Chat · Defining shifts for a team duty roster

Stream: implementers

Topic: Defining shifts for a team duty roster

Wolfgang Kronseder (Dec 06 2018 at 14:07):

Hi,
we want to define a CareTeam that is on duty for period of time (CareTeam.period) based on recurring shifts

Since we don't build a full blown rostering system, in our case a shift should only have a few properties:
- name
- start (data type: time)
- end (data type: time)
- status (active, inactive as defined in code system http://build.fhir.org/codesystem-resource-status.html)
- organization (for which this shift is defined)

Example: Morning shift from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm,...

When it comes to create a CareTeam the start/end time would be combined with the current date and copied into CareTeam.period (e.g. CareTeam.period.start = 2018-12-06T08:00+02:00 and so on)

My question is now how to model a shift with FHIR?

Existing resources like slot or schedule seem not be a fit for shifts since they always refer to an instant or a datetime.
Is there an existing resource that we've missed?
If not what's your recommendation on how to proceed? Create a profile on Basic or even create our own custom resource?

John Moehrke (Dec 06 2018 at 18:00):

Seems you want a structure like what is found in MedicationRequest.dispenseRequest ?

Wolfgang Kronseder (Dec 06 2018 at 20:21):

Thanks for your answer John, but I don't see that such a structure could help here.

The goal is being able to express, that a group of people is working this morning in a hospital departement with use of a CareTeam. So no connection to a patient or any workflow at this moment. The concept of a shift should just save time when creating such a CareTeam by being a template for the time period the are present in the hospital.
If I got your Idea wrong, could you please expand on your suggestion?

John Moehrke (Dec 06 2018 at 20:52):

I was not suggesting that you use MedicationRequest. I was refering to a pattern as comprehensive as you seem to be desiring. The point is that you could define a structure such as that as an extension on CareTeam, and recommend in a Change Request that your structure be considered for the core.

Wolfgang Kronseder (Dec 07 2018 at 07:01):

Ok, now I got your point.
Having it as a structure within a CareTeam means, that we couldn't define shifts
as an independent object to reuse it across multiple CareTeams, right?. So I thought of having it as separate structure (as defining a shift might get more features in future like to be only active on weekends etc.).

What's the best way of having it as an independent entity?
I've read about Profile on basic vs. creating a new resource.
While suggesting such a structure to the work groups makes certainly sense , how can I continue best in the mean time in my project?

René Spronk (Dec 07 2018 at 09:25):

See simplifier.net, there is an extension on Basic to represent the concept of shift.

Wolfgang Kronseder (Dec 07 2018 at 10:04):

Hi René, in fact that's my own :simple_smile:
I 've played around with forge tried some things out.

My conclusion for the process of modelling would be
1) to start with extensions and create a profile on Basic. Start using it in my project
2) suggest my use case to the FHIR working groups and request a new resource
3) if it gets adopted in the standard to migrate to the standard representation

Is that the recommended way to go?

René Spronk (Dec 07 2018 at 10:45):

Yes

René Spronk (Dec 07 2018 at 10:47):

By the way: I use your Shift example (extension to Basic) in our European FHIR training courses, for it is a realistic example which can be easily understood by the attendees of such courses.