Stream: implementers
Topic: Profiles - allowing for multiple base resources?
Matthew Koch (Jul 15 2018 at 15:46):
I have a question about profiles. Is it considered valid for a profile to reference multiple base resources? For example, Patient and ResearchSubject. We are authoring an implementation guide and want to allow either of these two resources to be used given the capabilities of the server. Consider that some implementers may have custom FHIR servers capable of outputting ResearchSubject, but other who rely on EHR vendor solutions may not. We would make this clear in our guide, but we're not exactly sure if this is the best approach.
If there is another viable alternative to this scenario, I'd love to hear it!
Lloyd McKenzie (Jul 15 2018 at 15:48):
A given profile is on a single resource. However, a Reference can certainly reference multiple resources and declare specific profiles for each resource.
Lloyd McKenzie (Jul 15 2018 at 15:48):
However, Patient and ResearchSubject are not substitutable.
Lloyd McKenzie (Jul 15 2018 at 15:48):
ResearchSubject links a Patient to a ResearchStudy
Lloyd McKenzie (Jul 15 2018 at 15:49):
No activity is ever done directly to ResearchSubject - all activities happen to Patient. That patient might be tied to 0..* studies through ResearchSubject.
Matthew Koch (Jul 15 2018 at 15:51):
OK - how might Reference be factored in to help here? We're trying to account for some source systems not being able to accommodate the ResearchSubject/ResearchStudy resources at the moment, but we want to support and encourage their use (and provide examples)
Matthew Koch (Jul 15 2018 at 15:52):
So, for clinical trial data exchange we'd allow for the use of Patient alone, but prefer the use of ResearchSubject if possible. Hopefully this makes sense.
Lloyd McKenzie (Jul 15 2018 at 16:35):
You don't really have a choice. Patient demographic data and linkage to Observations, Procedures, AdverseEvents, etc. is always through Patient, never through ResearchSubject. So you'll always need to have Patient. And if you want to communicate that a Patient is part of a particular research study, you'll need ResearchSubject too.
Matthew Koch (Jul 16 2018 at 00:13):
I see. So in order to really embrace ResearchSubject we'll need to include it in some way, but Patient will always be necessary.
Last updated: Apr 12 2022 at 19:14 UTC
