Stream: implementers
Topic: Multiple authors on QuestionnaireResponse
Martin Grundberg (Sep 03 2019 at 15:32):
We are looking into the QuestionnaireResponse resource.
We need there to be a Practioner associated with the QR as the author (for cases where they do not come from e.g. Patient). In addition to that, we also need an Organizational belonging to the QR. It could be Dr Jones, and Orthopedic Department.
The reason this needs to be separated is that we need to both be able to see who has authored it, or is in the process of authoring it, and to which department/unit it belongs. The QR doesn’t follow the doctor as much as it follows the organization. We want to be able to get QR by both Practioner and Organization.
The QR.author parameter seems to solve our need, but it is 0..1, and not 0..*. So we can’t both reference an authoring Practioner and authoring Organization.
We looked at the PractionerRole, which in itself references both Practioner and Organization. But that feels strange, we would only use that resource to solve our use case temporarily as a method of packaging two resources in one. For us, they would still be persisted as separate parameters on the QR. And later when getting a QR, we would have to package them back into the PractionerRole resource. Feels a bit like a hack :)
We also considered using Composition instead, as it has composition.author 1..*, but it has other issues where QR is better.
Questions
Is there a reason for not allowing 0..* authors on QuestionnaireResponse?
Any recommendations on how to handle this use case?
What is the reason for author being different on QuestionnaireResponse and Composition?
Lloyd McKenzie (Sep 03 2019 at 15:52):
PractitionerRole is the correct solution. The QR is being created by a specific Practitioner acting on behalf of a specific Organization. If you wished, you could make it a 'contained' PractitionerRole if the PractitionerRole isn't maintained as a distinct instance in your environment. Note that this is the proper solution even if multiple authors are permitted. If you were to list both practitioners and Organizations as authors on a Composition, you'd be saying that the organization and practitioner authorship were completely independent. If you have a Practitioner who is doing something on behalf of an Organization, the proper representation is always PractitionerRole.
Lloyd McKenzie (Sep 03 2019 at 15:52):
The reason for the difference is that questionnaires are generally only completed by a single individual. Compositions (i.e. documents) sometimes have multiple authors.
Lloyd McKenzie (Sep 03 2019 at 15:53):
The difference is not to support capturing organization and Practitioner as separate elements when the Practitioner is acting on behalf of the Organization.
Martin Grundberg (Sep 03 2019 at 17:36):
Perfect! Clear answer, no need for extensions and we also know that we should use one author (ref a PractionerRole) for the same use case for a Composition.
Appreciate the quick response!
Last updated: Apr 12 2022 at 19:14 UTC
