This resource allows for the definition of various types of plans as a sharable, consumable, and executable artifact. The resource is general enough to support the description of a broad range of clinical and non-clinical artifacts such as clinical decision support rules, order sets, protocols, and drug quality specifications.

A reference to a set of rules that were followed when the resource was constructed, and which must be understood when processing the content. Often, this is a reference to an implementation guide that defines the special rules along with other profiles etc.

Asserting this rule set restricts the content to be only understood by a limited set of trading partners. This inherently limits the usefulness of the data in the long term. However, the existing health eco-system is highly fractured, and not yet ready to define, collect, and exchange data in a generally computable sense. Wherever possible, implementers and/or specification writers should avoid using this element. Often, when used, the URL is a reference to an implementation guide that defines these special rules as part of its narrative along with other profiles, value sets, etc.

These resources do not have an independent existence apart from the resource that contains them - they cannot be identified independently, nor can they have their own independent transaction scope. This is allowed to be a Parameters resource if and only if it is referenced by a resource that provides context/meaning.

This should never be done when the content can be identified properly, as once identification is lost, it is extremely difficult (and context dependent) to restore it again. Contained resources may have profiles and tags in their meta elements, but SHALL NOT have security labels.

An Extension

Records the history of status changes for a PlanDefinition, including the status, period during which the status was effective, reason for the status change, and the actor who performed the change.

May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the resource and that modifies the understanding of the element that contains it and/or the understanding of the containing element's descendants. Usually modifier elements provide negation or qualification. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, 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.

Modifier extensions SHALL NOT change the meaning of any elements on Resource or DomainResource (including cannot change the meaning of modifierExtension itself).

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.

Modifier extensions allow for extensions that cannot be safely ignored to be clearly distinguished from the vast majority of extensions which can be safely ignored. This promotes interoperability by eliminating the need for implementers to prohibit the presence of extensions. For further information, see the definition of modifier extensions.

An absolute URI that is used to identify this plan definition when it is referenced in a specification, model, design or an instance; also called its canonical identifier. This SHOULD be globally unique and SHOULD be a literal address at which an authoritative instance of this plan definition is (or will be) published. This URL can be the target of a canonical reference. It SHALL remain the same when the plan definition is stored on different servers.

Can be a urn:uuid: or a urn:oid: but real http: addresses are preferred. Multiple instances may share the same URL if they have a distinct version.

The determination of when to create a new version of a resource (same url, new version) vs. defining a new artifact is up to the author. Considerations for making this decision are found in Technical and Business Versions.

In some cases, the resource can no longer be found at the stated url, but the url itself cannot change. Implementations can use the meta.source element to indicate where the current master source of the resource can be found.

Allows the plan definition to be referenced by a single globally unique identifier.

A formal identifier that is used to identify this plan definition when it is represented in other formats, or referenced in a specification, model, design or an instance.

Typically, this is used for identifiers that can go in an HL7 V3 II (instance identifier) data type, and can then identify this plan definition outside of FHIR, where it is not possible to use the logical URI.

Allows externally provided and/or usable business identifiers to be easily associated with the module.

The identifier that is used to identify this version of the plan definition when it is referenced in a specification, model, design or instance. This is an arbitrary value managed by the plan definition author and is not expected to be globally unique. For example, it might be a timestamp (e.g. yyyymmdd) if a managed version is not available. There is also no expectation that versions can be placed in a lexicographical sequence. To provide a version consistent with the Decision Support Service specification, use the format Major.Minor.Revision (e.g. 1.0.0). For more information on versioning knowledge assets, refer to the Decision Support Service specification. Note that a version is required for non-experimental active artifacts.

There may be different plan definition instances that have the same identifier but different versions. The version can be appended to the url in a reference to allow a reference to a particular business version of the plan definition with the format [url]|[version]. The version SHOULD NOT contain a '#' - see Business Version.

Indicates the mechanism used to compare versions to determine which is more current.

If set as a string, this is a FHIRPath expression that has two additional context variables passed in - %version1 and %version2 and will return a negative number if version1 is newer, a positive number if version2 and a 0 if the version ordering can't be successfully be determined.

A natural language name identifying the plan definition. This name should be usable as an identifier for the module by machine processing applications such as code generation.

The name is not expected to be globally unique. The name should be a simple alphanumeric type name to ensure that it is machine-processing friendly.

Support human navigation and code generation.

A short, descriptive, user-friendly title for the plan definition.

This name does not need to be machine-processing friendly and may contain punctuation, white-space, etc.

An Extension

Language translation from base language of resource to another language, used to provide translations for strings, including markdown. Generally, the type of the translation extension SHOULD match that of the element being extended.

The status of this plan definition. Enables tracking the life-cycle of the content.

Allows filtering of plan definitions that are appropriate for use versus not.

See guidance around (not) making local changes to elements here.

A code, group definition, or canonical reference that describes or identifies the intended subject of the plan definition. Canonical references are allowed to support the definition of protocols for drug and substance quality specifications, and is allowed to reference a MedicinalProductDefinition, SubstanceDefinition, AdministrableProductDefinition, ManufacturedItemDefinition, or PackagedProductDefinition resource.

Note that the choice of canonical for the subject element was introduced in R4B to support pharmaceutical quality use cases. To ensure as much backwards-compatibility as possible, it is recommended to only use the new canonical type with these use cases.

The possible types of subjects for a plan definition (E.g. Patient, Practitioner, Organization, Location, etc.).

A code, group definition, or canonical reference that describes or identifies the intended subject of the plan definition. Canonical references are allowed to support the definition of protocols for drug and substance quality specifications, and is allowed to reference a MedicinalProductDefinition, SubstanceDefinition, AdministrableProductDefinition, ManufacturedItemDefinition, or PackagedProductDefinition resource.

Note that the choice of canonical for the subject element was introduced in R4B to support pharmaceutical quality use cases. To ensure as much backwards-compatibility as possible, it is recommended to only use the new canonical type with these use cases.

The possible types of subjects for a plan definition (E.g. Patient, Practitioner, Organization, Location, etc.).

A code, group definition, or canonical reference that describes or identifies the intended subject of the plan definition. Canonical references are allowed to support the definition of protocols for drug and substance quality specifications, and is allowed to reference a MedicinalProductDefinition, SubstanceDefinition, AdministrableProductDefinition, ManufacturedItemDefinition, or PackagedProductDefinition resource.

Note that the choice of canonical for the subject element was introduced in R4B to support pharmaceutical quality use cases. To ensure as much backwards-compatibility as possible, it is recommended to only use the new canonical type with these use cases.

The date (and optionally time) when the plan definition was last significantly changed. The date must change when the business version changes and it must change if the status code changes. In addition, it should change when the substantive content of the plan definition changes.

The date is often not tracked until the resource is published, but may be present on draft content. Note that this is not the same as the resource last-modified-date, since the resource may be a secondary representation of the plan definition. Additional specific dates may be added as extensions or be found by consulting Provenances associated with past versions of the resource.

See guidance around (not) making local changes to elements here.

The name of the organization or individual responsible for the release and ongoing maintenance of the plan definition.

Usually an organization but may be an individual. The publisher (or steward) of the plan definition is the organization or individual primarily responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the plan definition. This is not necessarily the same individual or organization that developed and initially authored the content. The publisher is the primary point of contact for questions or issues with the plan definition. This item SHOULD be populated unless the information is available from context.

Helps establish the "authority/credibility" of the plan definition. May also allow for contact.

A free text natural language description of the plan definition from a consumer's perspective.

This description can be used to capture details such as comments about misuse, instructions for clinical use and interpretation, literature references, examples from the paper world, etc. It is not a rendering of the plan definition as conveyed in the 'text' field of the resource itself. This item SHOULD be populated unless the information is available from context (e.g. the language of the plan definition is presumed to be the predominant language in the place the plan definition was created).

The content was developed with a focus and intent of supporting the contexts that are listed. These contexts may be general categories (gender, age, ...) or may be references to specific programs (insurance plans, studies, ...) and may be used to assist with indexing and searching for appropriate plan definition instances.

When multiple useContexts are specified, there is no expectation that all or any of the contexts apply.

Assist in searching for appropriate content.

The content was developed with a focus and intent of supporting the contexts that are listed. These contexts may be general categories (gender, age, ...) or may be references to specific programs (insurance plans, studies, ...) and may be used to assist with indexing and searching for appropriate plan definition instances.

When multiple useContexts are specified, there is no expectation that all or any of the contexts apply.

Assist in searching for appropriate content.

A code that identifies the type of context being specified by this usage context.

A code that specifies a type of context being specified by a usage context.

A value that defines the context specified in this context of use. The interpretation of the value is defined by the code.

A code that defines the specific value for the context being specified.

A reference to a code defined by a terminology system.

Codes may be defined very casually in enumerations, or code lists, up to very formal definitions such as SNOMED CT - see the HL7 v3 Core Principles for more information. Ordering of codings is undefined and SHALL NOT be used to infer meaning. Generally, at most only one of the coding values will be labeled as UserSelected = true.

Allows for alternative encodings within a code system, and translations to other code systems.

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

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 be an absolute reference to some definition that establishes the system clearly and unambiguously.

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

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.

The content was developed with a focus and intent of supporting the contexts that are listed. These contexts may be general categories (gender, age, ...) or may be references to specific programs (insurance plans, studies, ...) and may be used to assist with indexing and searching for appropriate plan definition instances.

Only meaningful on immunization schedules; the bound value set is immunization-specific.

Assist in searching for appropriate content.

A code that identifies the type of context being specified by this usage context.

A code that specifies a type of context being specified by a usage context.

A value that defines the context specified in this context of use. The interpretation of the value is defined by the code.

The content was developed with a focus and intent of supporting the contexts that are listed. These contexts may be general categories (gender, age, ...) or may be references to specific programs (insurance plans, studies, ...) and may be used to assist with indexing and searching for appropriate plan definition instances.

When multiple useContexts are specified, there is no expectation that all or any of the contexts apply.

Assist in searching for appropriate content.

A code that identifies the type of context being specified by this usage context.

A code that specifies a type of context being specified by a usage context.

A value that defines the context specified in this context of use. The interpretation of the value is defined by the code.

A code that defines the specific value for the context being specified.

A reference to a code defined by a terminology system.

Codes may be defined very casually in enumerations, or code lists, up to very formal definitions such as SNOMED CT - see the HL7 v3 Core Principles for more information. Ordering of codings is undefined and SHALL NOT be used to infer meaning. Generally, at most only one of the coding values will be labeled as UserSelected = true.

Allows for alternative encodings within a code system, and translations to other code systems.

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

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 be an absolute reference to some definition that establishes the system clearly and unambiguously.

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

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.

The content was developed with a focus and intent of supporting the contexts that are listed. These contexts may be general categories (gender, age, ...) or may be references to specific programs (insurance plans, studies, ...) and may be used to assist with indexing and searching for appropriate plan definition instances.

When multiple useContexts are specified, there is no expectation that all or any of the contexts apply.

Assist in searching for appropriate content.

A code that identifies the type of context being specified by this usage context.

A code that specifies a type of context being specified by a usage context.

A value that defines the context specified in this context of use. The interpretation of the value is defined by the code.

A code that defines the specific value for the context being specified.

A reference to a code defined by a terminology system.

Codes may be defined very casually in enumerations, or code lists, up to very formal definitions such as SNOMED CT - see the HL7 v3 Core Principles for more information. Ordering of codings is undefined and SHALL NOT be used to infer meaning. Generally, at most only one of the coding values will be labeled as UserSelected = true.

Allows for alternative encodings within a code system, and translations to other code systems.

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

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 be an absolute reference to some definition that establishes the system clearly and unambiguously.

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

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.

The content was developed with a focus and intent of supporting the contexts that are listed. These contexts may be general categories (gender, age, ...) or may be references to specific programs (insurance plans, studies, ...) and may be used to assist with indexing and searching for appropriate plan definition instances.

Region codes are the same ones used in Address.state, so a patient's region can be matched to the schedules that apply there directly.

Assist in searching for appropriate content.

A code that identifies the type of context being specified by this usage context.

A code that specifies a type of context being specified by a usage context.

A value that defines the context specified in this context of use. The interpretation of the value is defined by the code.

A reference to a code defined by a terminology system.

Codes may be defined very casually in enumerations, or code lists, up to very formal definitions such as SNOMED CT - see the HL7 v3 Core Principles for more information. Ordering of codings is undefined and SHALL NOT be used to infer meaning. Generally, at most only one of the coding values will be labeled as UserSelected = true.

Allows for alternative encodings within a code system, and translations to other code systems.

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

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 be an absolute reference to some definition that establishes the system clearly and unambiguously.

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

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.

The date on which the resource content was approved by the publisher. Approval happens once when the content is officially approved for usage.

The 'date' element may be more recent than the approval date because of minor changes or editorial corrections.

See guidance around (not) making local changes to elements here.

The period during which the plan definition content was or is planned to be in active use.

The effective period for a plan definition determines when the content is applicable for usage and is independent of publication and review dates. For example, a plan definition intended to be used for the year 2016 might be published in 2015.

See guidance around (not) making local changes to elements here.

Allows establishing a transition before a resource comes into effect and also allows for a sunsetting process when new versions of the plan definition are or are expected to be used instead.

An action or group of actions to be taken as part of the plan. For example, in clinical care, an action would be to prescribe a particular indicated medication, or perform a particular test as appropriate. In pharmaceutical quality, an action would be the test that needs to be performed on a drug product as defined in the quality specification.

Note that there is overlap between many of the elements defined here and the ActivityDefinition resource. When an ActivityDefinition is referenced (using the definition element), the overlapping elements in the plan override the content of the referenced ActivityDefinition unless otherwise documented in the specific elements. See the PlanDefinition resource for more detailed information.

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 in which it is contained and/or the understanding of the containing element's descendants. Usually modifier elements provide negation or qualification. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can 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.

Modifier extensions SHALL NOT change the meaning of any elements on Resource or DomainResource (including cannot change the meaning of modifierExtension itself).

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.

Modifier extensions allow for extensions that cannot be safely ignored to be clearly distinguished from the vast majority of extensions which can be safely ignored. This promotes interoperability by eliminating the need for implementers to prohibit the presence of extensions. For further information, see the definition of modifier extensions.

An identifier that is unique within the PlanDefinition to allow linkage within the realized CarePlan and/or RequestOrchestration.

The textual description of the action displayed to a user. For example, when the action is a test to be performed, the title would be the title of the test such as Assay by HPLC.

A brief description of the action used to provide a summary to display to the user.

A code that provides a meaning, grouping, or classification for the action or action group. For example, a section may have a LOINC code for the section of a documentation template. In pharmaceutical quality, an action (Test) such as pH could be classified as a physical property.

An expression that describes applicability criteria or start/stop conditions for the action.

When multiple conditions of the same kind are present, the effects are combined using AND semantics, so the overall condition is true only if all the conditions are true.

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 in which it is contained and/or the understanding of the containing element's descendants. Usually modifier elements provide negation or qualification. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can 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.

Modifier extensions SHALL NOT change the meaning of any elements on Resource or DomainResource (including cannot change the meaning of modifierExtension itself).

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.

Modifier extensions allow for extensions that cannot be safely ignored to be clearly distinguished from the vast majority of extensions which can be safely ignored. This promotes interoperability by eliminating the need for implementers to prohibit the presence of extensions. For further information, see the definition of modifier extensions.

The kind of condition.

Applicability criteria are used to determine immediate applicability when a plan definition is applied to a given context. Start and stop criteria are carried through application and used to describe enter/exit criteria for an action.

An expression that returns true or false, indicating whether the condition is satisfied.

The expression may be inlined or may be a reference to a named expression within a logic library referenced by the library element.

A relationship to another action such as "before" or "30-60 minutes after start of".

When an action depends on multiple actions, the meaning is that all actions are dependencies, rather than that any of the actions are a dependency.

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 in which it is contained and/or the understanding of the containing element's descendants. Usually modifier elements provide negation or qualification. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can 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.

Modifier extensions SHALL NOT change the meaning of any elements on Resource or DomainResource (including cannot change the meaning of modifierExtension itself).

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.

Modifier extensions allow for extensions that cannot be safely ignored to be clearly distinguished from the vast majority of extensions which can be safely ignored. This promotes interoperability by eliminating the need for implementers to prohibit the presence of extensions. For further information, see the definition of modifier extensions.

The element id of the target related action.

targetId should reference an existing action.linkId.

The relationship of the start of this action to the related action.

A duration or range of durations to apply to the relationship. For example, 30-60 minutes before.

A duration or range of durations to apply to the relationship. For example, 30-60 minutes before.

A duration or range of durations to apply to the relationship. For example, 30-60 minutes before.

An optional value describing when the action should be performed.

The intent of the timing element is to provide timing when the action should be performed. As a definitional resource, this timing is interpreted as part of an apply operation so that the timing of the result actions in a CarePlan or RequestOrchestration, for example, would be specified by evaluating the timing definition in the context of the apply and setting the resulting timing on the appropriate elements of the target resource. If the timing is an Age, the activity is expected to be performed when the subject is the given Age. When the timing is a Duration, the activity is expected to be performed within the specified duration from the apply. When the timing is a Range, it may be a range of Ages or Durations, providing a range for the expected timing of the resulting activity. When the timing is a Timing, it is establishing a schedule for the timing of the resulting activity.

Allows prompting for activities and detection of missed planned activities.

An optional value describing when the action should be performed.

The intent of the timing element is to provide timing when the action should be performed. As a definitional resource, this timing is interpreted as part of an apply operation so that the timing of the result actions in a CarePlan or RequestOrchestration, for example, would be specified by evaluating the timing definition in the context of the apply and setting the resulting timing on the appropriate elements of the target resource. If the timing is an Age, the activity is expected to be performed when the subject is the given Age. When the timing is a Duration, the activity is expected to be performed within the specified duration from the apply. When the timing is a Range, it may be a range of Ages or Durations, providing a range for the expected timing of the resulting activity. When the timing is a Timing, it is establishing a schedule for the timing of the resulting activity.

Allows prompting for activities and detection of missed planned activities.

An optional value describing when the action should be performed.

The intent of the timing element is to provide timing when the action should be performed. As a definitional resource, this timing is interpreted as part of an apply operation so that the timing of the result actions in a CarePlan or RequestOrchestration, for example, would be specified by evaluating the timing definition in the context of the apply and setting the resulting timing on the appropriate elements of the target resource. If the timing is an Age, the activity is expected to be performed when the subject is the given Age. When the timing is a Duration, the activity is expected to be performed within the specified duration from the apply. When the timing is a Range, it may be a range of Ages or Durations, providing a range for the expected timing of the resulting activity. When the timing is a Timing, it is establishing a schedule for the timing of the resulting activity.

Allows prompting for activities and detection of missed planned activities.

Indicates who should participate in performing the action described.

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 in which it is contained and/or the understanding of the containing element's descendants. Usually modifier elements provide negation or qualification. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, there is a strict set of governance applied to the definition and use of extensions. Though any implementer can 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.

Modifier extensions SHALL NOT change the meaning of any elements on Resource or DomainResource (including cannot change the meaning of modifierExtension itself).

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.

Modifier extensions allow for extensions that cannot be safely ignored to be clearly distinguished from the vast majority of extensions which can be safely ignored. This promotes interoperability by eliminating the need for implementers to prohibit the presence of extensions. For further information, see the definition of modifier extensions.

A reference to the id element of the actor who will participate in this action.

The type of participant in the action.

A reference to an ActivityDefinition that describes the action to be taken in detail, a MessageDefinition describing a message to be snet, a PlanDefinition that describes a series of actions to be taken, a Questionnaire that should be filled out, a SpecimenDefinition describing a specimen to be collected, or an ObservationDefinition that specifies what observation should be captured.

Note that the definition is optional, and if no definition is specified, a dynamicValue with a root ($this) path can be used to define the entire resource dynamically.

Only meaningful on immunization schedules; the bound value set is immunization-specific.

Region codes are the same ones used in Address.state, so a patient's region can be matched to the schedules that apply there directly.

targetId should reference an existing action.linkId.

This resource allows for the definition of various types of plans as a sharable, consumable, and executable artifact. The resource is general enough to support the description of a broad range of clinical and non-clinical artifacts such as clinical decision support rules, order sets, protocols, and drug quality specifications.

The logical id of the resource, as used in the URL for the resource. Once assigned, this value never changes.

Within the context of the FHIR RESTful interactions, the resource has an id except for cases like the create and conditional update. Otherwise, the use of the resouce id depends on the given use case.

The metadata about the resource. This is content that is maintained by the infrastructure. Changes to the content might not always be associated with version changes to the resource.

A reference to a set of rules that were followed when the resource was constructed, and which must be understood when processing the content. Often, this is a reference to an implementation guide that defines the special rules along with other profiles etc.

Asserting this rule set restricts the content to be only understood by a limited set of trading partners. This inherently limits the usefulness of the data in the long term. However, the existing health eco-system is highly fractured, and not yet ready to define, collect, and exchange data in a generally computable sense. Wherever possible, implementers and/or specification writers should avoid using this element. Often, when used, the URL is a reference to an implementation guide that defines these special rules as part of its narrative along with other profiles, value sets, etc.

The base language in which the resource is written.

Language is provided to support indexing and accessibility (typically, services such as text to speech use the language tag). The html language tag in the narrative applies to the narrative. The language tag on the resource may be used to specify the language of other presentations generated from the data in the resource. Not all the content has to be in the base language. The Resource.language should not be assumed to apply to the narrative automatically. If a language is specified, it should it also be specified on the div element in the html (see rules in HTML5 for information about the relationship between xml:lang and the html lang attribute).

IETF language tag for a human language

A human-readable narrative that contains a summary of the resource and can be used to represent the content of the resource to a human. The narrative need not encode all the structured data, but is required to contain sufficient detail to make it "clinically safe" for a human to just read the narrative. Resource definitions may define what content should be represented in the narrative to ensure clinical safety.

Contained resources do not have a narrative. Resources that are not contained SHOULD have a narrative. In some cases, a resource may only have text with little or no additional discrete data (as long as all minOccurs=1 elements are satisfied). This may be necessary for data from legacy systems where information is captured as a "text blob" or where text is additionally entered raw or narrated and encoded information is added later.

These resources do not have an independent existence apart from the resource that contains them - they cannot be identified independently, nor can they have their own independent transaction scope. This is allowed to be a Parameters resource if and only if it is referenced by a resource that provides context/meaning.

This should never be done when the content can be identified properly, as once identification is lost, it is extremely difficult (and context dependent) to restore it again. Contained resources may have profiles and tags in their meta elements, but SHALL NOT have security labels.

An Extension

Records the history of status changes for a PlanDefinition, including the status, period during which the status was effective, reason for the status change, and the actor who performed the change.

May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the resource and that modifies the understanding of the element that contains it and/or the understanding of the containing element's descendants. Usually modifier elements provide negation or qualification. To make the use of extensions safe and managable, 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.

Modifier extensions SHALL NOT change the meaning of any elements on Resource or DomainResource (including cannot change the meaning of modifierExtension itself).

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.

Modifier extensions allow for extensions that cannot be safely ignored to be clearly distinguished from the vast majority of extensions which can be safely ignored. This promotes interoperability by eliminating the need for implementers to prohibit the presence of extensions. For further information, see the definition of modifier extensions.

An absolute URI that is used to identify this plan definition when it is referenced in a specification, model, design or an instance; also called its canonical identifier. This SHOULD be globally unique and SHOULD be a literal address at which an authoritative instance of this plan definition is (or will be) published. This URL can be the target of a canonical reference. It SHALL remain the same when the plan definition is stored on different servers.

Can be a urn:uuid: or a urn:oid: but real http: addresses are preferred. Multiple instances may share the same URL if they have a distinct version.

The determination of when to create a new version of a resource (same url, new version) vs. defining a new artifact is up to the author. Considerations for making this decision are found in Technical and Business Versions.

In some cases, the resource can no longer be found at the stated url, but the url itself cannot change. Implementations can use the meta.source element to indicate where the current master source of the resource can be found.

Allows the plan definition to be referenced by a single globally unique identifier.

A formal identifier that is used to identify this plan definition when it is represented in other formats, or referenced in a specification, model, design or an instance.

Typically, this is used for identifiers that can go in an HL7 V3 II (instance identifier) data type, and can then identify this plan definition outside of FHIR, where it is not possible to use the logical URI.

Allows externally provided and/or usable business identifiers to be easily associated with the module.

The identifier that is used to identify this version of the plan definition when it is referenced in a specification, model, design or instance. This is an arbitrary value managed by the plan definition author and is not expected to be globally unique. For example, it might be a timestamp (e.g. yyyymmdd) if a managed version is not available. There is also no expectation that versions can be placed in a lexicographical sequence. To provide a version consistent with the Decision Support Service specification, use the format Major.Minor.Revision (e.g. 1.0.0). For more information on versioning knowledge assets, refer to the Decision Support Service specification. Note that a version is required for non-experimental active artifacts.

There may be different plan definition instances that have the same identifier but different versions. The version can be appended to the url in a reference to allow a reference to a particular business version of the plan definition with the format [url]|[version]. The version SHOULD NOT contain a '#' - see Business Version.

Indicates the mechanism used to compare versions to determine which is more current.

If set as a string, this is a FHIRPath expression that has two additional context variables passed in - %version1 and %version2 and will return a negative number if version1 is newer, a positive number if version2 and a 0 if the version ordering can't be successfully be determined.

A natural language name identifying the plan definition. This name should be usable as an identifier for the module by machine processing applications such as code generation.

The name is not expected to be globally unique. The name should be a simple alphanumeric type name to ensure that it is machine-processing friendly.

Support human navigation and code generation.

A short, descriptive, user-friendly title for the plan definition.

This name does not need to be machine-processing friendly and may contain punctuation, white-space, etc.

unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references)

An Extension

Language translation from base language of resource to another language, used to provide translations for strings, including markdown. Generally, the type of the translation extension SHOULD match that of the element being extended.

The actual value

An explanatory or alternate title for the plan definition giving additional information about its content.

A high-level category for the plan definition that distinguishes the kinds of systems that would be interested in the plan definition.

The type of PlanDefinition.

The status of this plan definition. Enables tracking the life-cycle of the content.

Allows filtering of plan definitions that are appropriate for use versus not.

See guidance around (not) making local changes to elements here.

A Boolean value to indicate that this plan definition is authored for testing purposes (or education/evaluation/marketing) and is not intended to be used for genuine usage.

Allows filtering of plan definitions that are appropriate for use versus not.

Enables experimental content to be developed following the same lifecycle that would be used for a production-level plan definition.

A code, group definition, or canonical reference that describes or identifies the intended subject of the plan definition. Canonical references are allowed to support the definition of protocols for drug and substance quality specifications, and is allowed to reference a MedicinalProductDefinition, SubstanceDefinition, AdministrableProductDefinition, ManufacturedItemDefinition, or PackagedProductDefinition resource.

Note that the choice of canonical for the subject element was introduced in R4B to support pharmaceutical quality use cases. To ensure as much backwards-compatibility as possible, it is recommended to only use the new canonical type with these use cases.

The possible types of subjects for a plan definition (E.g. Patient, Practitioner, Organization, Location, etc.).

A code, group definition, or canonical reference that describes or identifies the intended subject of the plan definition. Canonical references are allowed to support the definition of protocols for drug and substance quality specifications, and is allowed to reference a MedicinalProductDefinition, SubstanceDefinition, AdministrableProductDefinition, ManufacturedItemDefinition, or PackagedProductDefinition resource.

Note that the choice of canonical for the subject element was introduced in R4B to support pharmaceutical quality use cases. To ensure as much backwards-compatibility as possible, it is recommended to only use the new canonical type with these use cases.

The possible types of subjects for a plan definition (E.g. Patient, Practitioner, Organization, Location, etc.).