A person who is directly or indirectly involved in the provisioning of healthcare.

Note that a cab driver no longer fits the bill. You probably would be interested in the organization rather than the individual?

An identifier that applies to this person in this role.

All doctors practising in the UK require a GMC code.

Establishes the namespace in which set of possible id values is unique.

There are many sequences of identifiers. To perform matching, we need to know what sequence we're dealing with. The system identifies a particular sequence or set of unique identifiers.

The portion of the identifier typically displayed to the user and which is unique within the context of the system.

If the value is a full URI, then the system SHALL be urn:ietf:rfc:3986.

Other identifier used to identify the practitioner.

Often, specific identities are assigned for the agent.

Establishes the namespace in which set of possible id values is unique.

There are many sequences of identifiers. To perform matching, we need to know what sequence we're dealing with. The system identifies a particular sequence or set of unique identifiers.

The portion of the identifier typically displayed to the user and which is unique within the context of the system.

If the value is a full URI, then the system SHALL be urn:ietf:rfc:3986.

Whether this practitioner's record is in active use.

Need to be able to mark a practitioner record as not to be used because it was created in error.

Default is true. If the practitioner is not in use by one organization, then it should mark the period on the PractitonerRole with an end date (even if they are active) as they may be active in another role.

A name associated with the person/practitioner.

Contact persons need to be identified by name, but it is uncommon to need details about multiple other names for that person.

Identifies the purpose for this name.

Allows the appropriate name for a particular context of use to be selected from among a set of names.

This is labeled as "Is Modifier" because applications should not mistake a temporary or old name etc for a current/permanent one. Applications can assume that a name is current unless it explicitly says that it is temporary or old.

The part of a name that links to the genealogy. In some cultures (e.g. Eritrea) the family name of a son is the first name of his father.

For family name, hyphenated names such as "Smith-Jones" are a single name, but names with spaces such as "Smith Jones" are broken into multiple parts.

Given name.

If only initials are recorded, they may be used in place of the full name. Not called "first name" since given names do not always come first.

Part of the name that is acquired as a title due to academic, legal, employment or nobility status, etc. and that appears at the start of the name.

Part of the name that is acquired as a title due to academic, legal, employment or nobility status, etc. and that appears at the end of the name.

Indicates the period of time when this name was valid for the named person.

Allows names to be placed in historical context.

The start of the period. The boundary is inclusive.

If the low element is missing, the meaning is that the low boundary is not known.

The end of the period. If the end of the period is missing, it means that the period is ongoing.

The high value includes any matching date/time. i.e. 2012-02-03T10:00:00 is in a period that has a end value of 2012-02-03.

A contact detail for the practitioner, e.g. a telephone number or an email address.

Need to know how to reach a practitioner.

Person may have multiple ways to be contacted with different uses or applicable periods. May need to have options for contacting the person urgently, and also to help with identification.

Telecommunications form for contact point - what communications system is required to make use of the contact.

The actual contact point details, in a form that is meaningful to the designated communication system (i.e. phone number or email address).

Need to support legacy numbers that are not in a tightly controlled format.

Additional out of band data such as extensions, or notes about use of the contact are sometimes included in the value.

Identifies the purpose for the contact point.

Need to track the way a person uses this contact, so a user can choose which is appropriate for their purpose.

This is labeled as "Is Modifier" because applications should not mistake a temporary or old contact etc for a current/permanent one. Applications can assume that a contact is current unless it explicitly says that it is temporary or old.

Time period when the contact point was/is in use.

The start of the period. The boundary is inclusive.

If the low element is missing, the meaning is that the low boundary is not known.

The end of the period. If the end of the period is missing, it means that the period is ongoing.

The high value includes any matching date/time. i.e. 2012-02-03T10:00:00 is in a period that has a end value of 2012-02-03.

The postal address where the practitioner can be found or visited or to which mail can be delivered.

Need to keep track where the practitioner can found during work or for directing mail.

The purpose of this address.

Allows an appropriate address to be chosen from a list of many.

This is labeled as "Is Modifier" because applications should not mistake a temporary or old address etc for a current/permanent one. Applications can assume that an address is current unless it explicitly says that it is temporary or old.

Distinguishes between physical addresses (those you can visit) and mailing addresses (e.g. PO Boxes and care-of addresses). Most addresses are both.

This component contains the house number, apartment number, street name, street direction, delivery hints, and similar address information.

home | work | temp | old - purpose of this address.

The name of the city, town, village or other community or delivery center.

The name of the administrative area (county).

District is sometimes known as county, but in some regions 'county' in used in place of city (municipality), so county name should be conveyed in city instead.

A postal code designating a region defined by the postal service.

Country - a nation as commonly understood or generally accepted.

ISO 3166 3 letter codes can be used in place of a full country name.

Time period when address was/is in use.

Allows addresses to be placed in historical context.

The start of the period. The boundary is inclusive.

If the low element is missing, the meaning is that the low boundary is not known.

The end of the period. If the end of the period is missing, it means that the period is ongoing.

The high value includes any matching date/time. i.e. 2012-02-03T10:00:00 is in a period that has a end value of 2012-02-03.

Administrative Gender - the gender that the person is considered to have for administration and record keeping purposes.

Needed to address the person correctly and also required so patients can select practitioner of appropriate gender, if desired.

The list of Roles/Organizations that the Practitioner is associated with.

May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element, and that modifies the understanding of the element that contains it. Usually modifier elements provide negation or qualification. In order to make the use of extensions safe and manageable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer is allowed to define an extension, there is a set of requirements that SHALL be met as part of the definition of the extension. Applications processing a resource are required to check for modifier extensions.

There can be no stigma associated with the use of extensions by any application, project, or standard - regardless of the institution or jurisdiction that uses or defines the extensions. The use of extensions is what allows the FHIR specification to retain a core level of simplicity for everyone.

The Organization where the Practitioner performs the roles associated.

A reference to a location at which the other resource is found. The reference may be a relative reference, in which case it is relative to the service base URL, or an absolute URL that resolves to the location where the resource is found. The reference may be version specific or not. If the reference is not to a FHIR RESTful server, then it should be assumed to be version specific. Internal fragment references (start with '#') refer to contained resources.

Using absolute URLs provides a stable scalable approach suitable for a cloud/web context, while using relative/logical references provides a flexible approach suitable for use when trading across closed eco-system boundaries. Absolute URLs do not need to point to a FHIR RESTful server, though this is the preferred approach. If the url conforms to the structure "/[type]/[id]" then it should be assumed that the reference is to a FHIR RESTful server.

Plain text narrative that identifies the resource in addition to the resource reference.

This is generally not the same as the Resource.text of the referenced resource. The purpose is to identify what's being referenced, not to fully describe it.

Roles which this practitioner is authorized to perform for the organization.

Need to know what authority the practitioner has - what can they do?

A person may have more than one role. At least one role is required.

A code taken from the RBAC list of codes

Allows for translations and alternate encodings within a code system. Also supports communication of the same instance to systems requiring different encodings.

Codes may be defined very casually in enumerations, or code lists, up to very formal definitions such as SNOMED CT - see the V3 Core Principles for more information. Ordering of codings is undefined and SHALL not be used to infer meaning.

The identification of the code system that defines the meaning of the symbol in the code.

Need to be unambiguous about the source of the definition of the symbol.

The URI may be an OID (urn:oid:...) or a UUID (urn:uuid:...). OIDs and UUIDs SHALL be references to the HL7 OID registry. Otherwise, the URI should come from HL7's list of FHIR defined special URIs or it should de-reference to some definition that establish the system clearly and unambiguously.

A symbol in syntax defined by the system. The symbol may be a predefined code or an expression in a syntax defined by the coding system (e.g. post-coordination).

Need to refer to a particular code in the system.

A representation of the meaning of the code in the system, following the rules of the system.

Need to be able to carry a human-readable meaning of the code for readers that do not know the system.

A language the practitioner is able to use in patient communication.

Knowing which language a practitioner speaks can help in facilitating communication with patients.

The structure aa-BB with this exact casing is one the most widely used notations for locale. However not all systems actually code this but instead have it as free text. Hence CodeableConcept instead of code as the data type.

A code taken from the human language list of codes.

Allows for translations and alternate encodings within a code system. Also supports communication of the same instance to systems requiring different encodings.

Codes may be defined very casually in enumerations, or code lists, up to very formal definitions such as SNOMED CT - see the V3 Core Principles for more information. Ordering of codings is undefined and SHALL not be used to infer meaning.

The identification of the code system that defines the meaning of the symbol in the code.

Need to be unambiguous about the source of the definition of the symbol.

The URI may be an OID (urn:oid:...) or a UUID (urn:uuid:...). OIDs and UUIDs SHALL be references to the HL7 OID registry. Otherwise, the URI should come from HL7's list of FHIR defined special URIs or it should de-reference to some definition that establish the system clearly and unambiguously.

A symbol in syntax defined by the system. The symbol may be a predefined code or an expression in a syntax defined by the coding system (e.g. post-coordination).

Need to refer to a particular code in the system.

A representation of the meaning of the code in the system, following the rules of the system.

Need to be able to carry a human-readable meaning of the code for readers that do not know the system.