In the following table the use of a particular time attribute is denoted as having one of the following conformance requirements:
| MANDATORY | A valid non-null value (or interval) must be present. Notes specify value to use where there is no directly obvious candidate value. |
| REQUIRED | A value or interval must be present but an HL7 null flavour (e.g. null="UNK" for unknown may be used). Notes specify values to be used where there is no directly obvious candidate value. |
| OPTIONAL | A value may be provided or omitted according to circumstances. Notes specify handling of absent values. |
| author.time | Indicates the name of an associated Participation clone class which contains a time attribute. |
| NOT USED | Although present in the RIM class from which this is derived this attribute is not used in this particular clone class and thus does not appear in the message model or schema. |
| effectiveTime | availabilityTime | participant.time | |
| General notes | The clinically relevant date and time. | This system timestamp applied when the statement was created or last revised in the source system. | The time attribute of an associated participation class - the date and time of the associated action. A timestamp applied in relation to a particular participation in an act. |
| IVL<TS> May be a single point in time or an interval. Time point or interval may be specified imprecisely (e.g. year only, year month only, date only, date and time). | TS Always a single point in time. Time point must be specified precisely. Where time is not available or not specified to the level of seconds the non-available fine detail may be completed with trailing zeroes. | IVL<TS> Some uses restricted to TS May be a single point in time or an interval. Time point or interval may be specified imprecisely (e.g. year only, year month only, date only, date and time). | |
| Record containment structures | |||
| effectiveTime | availabilityTime | participant.time | |
| EhrExtract | NOT USED | MANDATORY | author.time |
| System date and time of generating this extract on the system from which the message originates. | Date and time of approval and/or digital signature by originating system. | ||
| EhrFolder | MANDATORY | MANDATORY | author.time |
| Period of time to which this folder applies. A range from the earliest to most recent EhrComposition activityTimes contained within the folder. This describes the temporal scope of the folder. | System date and time of generating this folder on the system on which its contents originated. | Date and time of approval and/or digital signature by originating system. | |
| EhrComposition | MANDATORY | MANDATORY | author.time |
| Date and time or period of the activity recorded by this composition. E.g. Consultation time, time of writing a document, time of using a template, time of generation of summary, etc. If this is not separately recorded in the sending system, the availabilityTime shall be repeated here. | System date and time of recording or generating this composition on the original system. If there is no positively identifiable system date for a composition, the composition may be regarded as having been created at the time of generating the enclosing EhrFolder or EhrExtract. However, this only applies to EhrCompositions created to support legacy data and/or special collections of data derived from the source data when generating the message. | Date and time of approval and/or digital signature by the author of the composition. | |
| CompoundStatement | REQUIRED | MANDATORY | OPTIONAL |
| The clinically relevant date and time. If this is not known then the relevant null flavour shall be used. If the originating system inherits an effective time from the surrounding context then the date/time derived from that context should be stated explicitly in this attribute. | System date and time of recording this compound on the original system. If no separate system date and time is recorded for this element in the originating system, the availabilityTime of the enclosing EhrComposition shall be repeated here. | Date and time of the activity recorded by this compound. E.g. date of investigation. The activity time for a compound statement can usually be a single point in time point but may be an interval of time where the process of observation takes a definable and recorded period of time. | |
| Statements | |||
| effectiveTime | availabilityTime | participant.time | |
| ObservationStatement | REQUIRED | MANDATORY | OPTIONAL |
| The clinically relevant date/time or period. E.g. for a laboratory investigation the date/time of sampling (as opposed to the date/time of analysis or reporting). In the case of a record of past history this is the date (to the accuracy recorded) of the original condition. E.g. If the history taken on 21 June 2002 notes a past history of appendectomy in 1965 then the effectiveTime is 1965. If the originating system inherits an effective time from the surrounding context (e.g. from a compound statement or composition), the date/time derived from that context should be repeated explicitly in this attribute. E.g. For a finding or diagnosis within a dated encounter. If a precise time of the finding is not recorded the date of the enclosing CompoundStatement or EhrComposition are repeated. Only if the effective date is not known should the relevant null flavour be used. E.g. History of a condition with no stated date. | System date and time of recording this observation on the original system. If no separate system date and time is recorded for this element in the originating system, the availabilityTime of the enclosing CompoundStatement or EhrComposition shall be repeated here. | Date/time of the observation. E.g. The date/time of an investigation or the date/time of history taking or examination. If not stated, this is inherited from the most proximal CompoundStatement or EhrComposition in which this is contained. The participant time for an observation can usually be a single point in time point but may be an interval of time where the process of observation takes as definable and recorded period of time.
| |
| NarrativeStatement | NOT USED | MANDATORY | NOT USED |
| If enclosed within a Compound Statement or Composition this may provide an effectiveTime. Otherwise the effectiveTime may be stated within the text in human readable form but is not represented by a separate attribute (since there is no processable structure to a narrative statement). | System date and time of recording this narrative on the original system. If no separate system date and time is recorded for this element in the originating system, the availabilityTime of the enclosing CompoundStatement or EhrComposition shall be repeated here. | This is inherited from the most proximal CompoundStatement or EhrComposition in which this is contained. | |
| PlanStatement | REQUIRED | MANDATORY | OPTIONAL TS - point in time only |
| Intended date/time or period of the planned event. For example a recall, diary or review date. | System date and time of recording this plan on the original system. If no separate system date and time is recorded for this element in the originating system, the availabilityTime of the enclosing CompoundStatement or EhrComposition shall be repeated here. | Date/time of making a plan. If not stated, this is inherited from the most proximal CompoundStatement or EhrComposition in which this is contained. | |
| RequestStatement | REQUIRED | MANDATORY | OPTIONAL TS - point in time only |
| Intended date/time or period of the requested event. | System date and time of recording this request on the original system. If no separate system date and time is recorded for this element in the originating system, the availabilityTime of the enclosing CompoundStatement or EhrComposition shall be repeated here. | Date/time of making a request. If not stated, this is inherited from the most proximal CompoundStatement or EhrComposition in which this is contained. | |
| RegistrationStatement | REQUIRED | MANDATORY | OPTIONAL TS - point in time only |
| Date/time or period to which the registration applies. | System date and time of recording this registration on the original system. If no separate system date and time is recorded for this element in the originating system, the availabilityTime of the enclosing CompoundStatement or EhrComposition shall be repeated here. | Date/time of the registration action. E.g. date/time of confirmation of registration. | |
| MedicationStatement | OPTIONAL | MANDATORY | MANDATORY TS - point in time only |
| Date/time or period of intended or actual treatment. | System date and time of recording this medication on the original system. If no separate system date and time is recorded for this element in the originating system, the availabilityTime of the enclosing CompoundStatement or EhrComposition shall be repeated here. | Date/time of medication authorisation, prescribing, dispensing or discontinuing. Note: If a medication contains two or more supply instances (e.g. an authorise and prescribe instance) then the action date/time of these must be the shared. Otherwise each supply action should have a separate MedicationStatements and should be linked by supply action references. | |
| Medication supply actions | |||
| effectiveTime | availabilityTime | participant.time | |
| Authorise | OPTIONAL IVL<TS> only - may state end point of interval without start. | MANDATORY | OPTIONAL (if different from containing composition) |
| Period of authorisation. This should be omitted for a single acute prescription issued at the same time as authorisation. If repeatNumber is omitted effectiveTime is MANDATORY. By default the end point of the effective time is the review date for this authorisation. If the originating system supports a separate concept of medication review date (not co-terminus with the end of authorisation) then this should be conveyed in a PlanStatement. | System date and time of recording this authorisation on the original system. If no separate system date and time is recorded for this element in the originating system, the availabilityTime of the enclosing MedicationStatement shall be repeated here. | The date of authorisation | |
| Prescribe | NOT USED | MANDATORY | OPTIONAL (if different from containing composition) |
| System date and time of recording this prescription on the original system. | The date of prescription | ||
| Dispense | NOT USED | MANDATORY | OPTIONAL (if different from containing composition) |
| System date and time of recording this dispensing action on the original system. | The date of dispensing | ||
| Discontinue | NOT USED | MANDATORY | OPTIONAL (if different from containing composition) |
| System date and time of recording this discontinuation on the original system. | The date of discontinuation | ||