Stream: implementers
Topic: MessageHeader vs Communication
Igor Sirkovich (Feb 01 2017 at 21:53):
I remember seeing some comparison of MessageHeader vs Communication resources, but I cannot locate it. There is a lot of similarity between the two resources and I'm wondering if there are any guidleines on the scenarios where each of these resources is supposed to be used.
Lloyd McKenzie (Feb 01 2017 at 23:02):
MessageHeader is to support the messaging paradigm. It's a transport mechanism. Clinicians and business users will never see a MessageHeader any more than they'd see an HTTP header. Communication is a business resource - it allows you to track what was told to another person/system. The information might have been shared in person, by mail, by phone or electronically. You'd expect to see records of Communication in the EHR.
Igor Sirkovich (Feb 02 2017 at 04:35):
Thank you @Lloyd McKenzie . So MessageHeader is equivalent to HL7v3 message wrappers and HL7v2 MSH segment while Communication is just a record of communication rather than the actual system to system message, correct?
Lloyd McKenzie (Feb 02 2017 at 08:29):
Correct.
Paul Knapp (Feb 21 2017 at 12:48):
Unless the message you want to send IS the content of the Communication resource.
Lloyd McKenzie (Feb 21 2017 at 17:40):
Not sure that's an "unless". MessageHeader is about routing a system-level communication. Communication is maintaining a record of a business/clinical level sharing of information. It's certainly possible to pass a Communication inside a FHIR message, but that doesn't change the function of each of the resources.
Paul Knapp (Feb 26 2017 at 10:49):
Communication doesn't only contain a recording that an information exchange occurred, it can exchange the information (as a reference or actual content) in Communication.payload.content.
Lloyd McKenzie (Feb 26 2017 at 15:25):
@Paul Knapp Not really. Communication is a record of what was shared. You could treat the Communication as having a status of "active" meaning that the communication is ongoing. But Communication isn't really intended as a way of actually sharing the information, it's a way of saying this is being/was shared.
Last updated: Apr 12 2022 at 19:14 UTC
