FHIR R4 Encounter · US Core Encounter

This resource is produced for the Patient Everything and Patient Summary bundles. It is not produced for Bulk Medication History.

Stable ID

Encounter does not currently generate a stable ID.

Fields

Field	Cardinality	Notes
`meta.profile`	1..1	Always set to the US Core Encounter profile URL.
`status`	1..1	Currently, always `finished`. Only completed visits are published.
`class`	1..1	All codes come from the v3-ActCode system.
`subject`	1..1	Reference to the Patient.
`period.start`	1..1	The visit’s start timestamp when available, otherwise the visit date.
`period.end`	0..1	The visit’s end timestamp, when available.
`type`	0..1	A single `type` entry holding the visit’s codings — see Encounter type coding.
`participant`	1..1	One participant, always typed `PART` from the v3-ParticipationType system. `participant.individual` is a contained PractitionerRole built from the visit’s provider and facility, and is omitted when neither is known.
`diagnosis.condition`	1..1	The visit’s diagnosis, as a Condition contained inside this `Encounter`.
`partOf`	0..1	Patient Summary only. On a follow-up visit, references the `Encounter` for the original visit it follows up on. Never set in the Patient Everything bundle.

serviceProvider, location, reasonCode, and hospitalization are not populated. The facility is published as a contained Location inside the participant’s PractitionerRole instead.

Encounter type coding

A single type entry is published, carrying one or more codings for the visit.

In the Patient Everything bundle, the visit’s code and all of its translated codes are considered, and one coding is published per code system — preferring, in order, ICD-10, ICD-9, SNOMED, CPT, and HL7 Act Code — plus the source’s own code. Duplicate code systems are collapsed, so each system appears at most once.
In the Patient Summary bundle, a single pre-resolved coding is published.

Codings with neither a code nor a display value are omitted, which is why type can be absent altogether.