Release 4

V3-ActClassObservation.xml

Vocabulary Work GroupMaturity Level: N/AStandards Status: Informative

Raw XML (canonical form + also see XML Format Specification)

Description: An act that is intended to result in new information about a subject. The main difference between Observations and other Acts is that Observations have a value attribute. Thecode attribute of Observation and thevalue attribute of Observation must be considered in combination to determine the semantics of the observation. Discussion: Structurally, many observations are name-value-pairs, where the Observation.code (inherited from Act) is the name and the Observation.value is the value of the property. Such a construct is also known as a variable (a named feature that can assume a value) hence, the Observation class is always used to hold generic name-value-pairs or variables, even though the variable valuation may not be the result of an elaborate observation method. It may be a simple answer to a question or it may be an assertion or setting of a parameter. As with all Act statements, Observation statements describe what was done, and in the case of Observations, this includes a description of what was actually observed (results or answers); and those results or answers are part of the observation and not split off into other objects. The method of action is asserted by the Observation classCode or its subclasses at the least granular level, by the Observation.code attribute value at the medium level of granularity, and by the attribute value of observation.methodCode when a finer level of granularity is required. The method in whole or in part may also appear in the attribute value of Observation.value when using coded data types to express the value of the attribute. Relevant aspects of methodology may also be restated in value when the results themselves imply or state a methodology. An observation may consist of component observations each having their own Observation.code and Observation.value. In this case, the composite observation may not have an Observation.value for itself. For instance, a white blood cell count consists of the sub-observations for the counts of the various granulocytes, lymphocytes and other normal or abnormal blood cells (e.g., blasts). The overall white blood cell count Observation itself may therefore not have a value by itself (even though it could have one, e.g., the sum total of white blood cells). Thus, as long as an Act is essentially an Act of recognizing and noting information about a subject, it is an Observation, regardless of whether it has a simple value by itself or whether it has sub-observations. Even though observations are professional acts (see Act) and as such are intentional actions, this does not require that every possible outcome of an observation be pondered in advance of it being actually made. For instance, differential white blood cell counts (WBC) rarely show blasts, but if they do, this is part of the WBC observation even though blasts might not be predefined in the structure of a normal WBC. Clinical documents commonly have Subjective and Objective findings, both of which are kinds of Observations. In addition, clinical documents commonly contain Assessments, which are also kinds of Observations. Thus, the establishment of a diagnosis is an Observation. Examples: Recording the results of a Family History Assessment Laboratory test and associated result Physical exam test and associated result Device temperature Soil lead level

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<ValueSet xmlns="http://hl7.org/fhir">
  <id value="v3-ActClassObservation"/> 
  <meta> 
    <lastUpdated value="2021-01-21T15:34:20.265+00:00"/> 
    <profile value="http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/shareablevalueset"/> 
  </meta> 
  <text> 
    <status value="generated"/> 
    <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
      <h2> V3 Value SetActClassObservation</h2> 
      <div> 
        <p> Description:
An act that is intended to result in new information about a subject. The main difference
             between Observations and other Acts is that Observations have a value attribute. Thecode
attribute of Observation and thevalue
attribute of Observation must be considered in combination to determine the semantics
             of the observation.  Discussion:
Structurally, many observations are name-value-pairs, where the Observation.code (inherited
             from Act) is the name and the Observation.value is the value of the property. Such a construct
             is also known as a  variable (a named feature that can assume a value) hence, the Observation
             class is always used to hold generic name-value-pairs or variables, even though the variable
             valuation may not be the result of an elaborate observation method. It may be a simple
             answer to a question or it may be an assertion or setting of a parameter. As with all
             Act statements, Observation statements describe what was done, and in the case of Observations,
             this includes a description of what was actually observed (results or answers); and those
             results or answers are part of the observation and not split off into other objects. The
             method of action is asserted by the Observation classCode or its subclasses at the least
             granular level, by the Observation.code attribute value at the medium level of granularity,
             and by the attribute value of observation.methodCode when a finer level of granularity
             is required. The method in whole or in part may also appear in the attribute value of
             Observation.value when using coded data types to express the value of the attribute. Relevant
             aspects of methodology may also be restated in value when the results themselves imply
             or state a methodology. An observation may consist of component observations each having
             their own Observation.code and Observation.value. In this case, the composite observation
             may not have an Observation.value for itself. For instance, a white blood cell count consists
             of the sub-observations for the counts of the various granulocytes, lymphocytes and other
             normal or abnormal blood cells (e.g., blasts). The overall white blood cell count Observation
             itself may therefore not have a value by itself (even though it could have one, e.g.,
             the sum total of white blood cells). Thus, as long as an Act is essentially an Act of
             recognizing and noting information about a subject, it is an Observation, regardless of
             whether it has a simple value by itself or whether it has sub-observations. Even though
             observations are professional acts (see Act) and as such are intentional actions, this
             does not require that every possible outcome of an observation be pondered in advance
             of it being actually made. For instance, differential white blood cell counts (WBC) rarely
             show blasts, but if they do, this is part of the WBC observation even though blasts might
             not be predefined in the structure of a normal WBC. Clinical documents commonly have Subjective
             and Objective findings, both of which are kinds of Observations. In addition, clinical
             documents commonly contain Assessments, which are also kinds of Observations. Thus, the
             establishment of a diagnosis is an Observation.  Examples:
Recording the results of a Family History Assessment  Laboratory test and associated result
              Physical exam test and associated result  Device temperature  Soil lead level</p> 

      </div> 
      <p> This value set includes codes from the following code systems:</p> 
      <ul> 
        <li> Include codes from 
          <a href="../../v3/ActClass/cs.html">
            <code> http://terminology.hl7.org/CodeSystem/v3-ActClass</code> 
          </a>  where concept  is-a  
          <a href="../../v3/ActClass/cs.html#v3-ActClass-OBS">OBS</a> 
        </li> 
      </ul> 
    </div> 
  </text> 
  <extension url="http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/structuredefinition-standards-status">
    <valueCode value="external"/> 
  </extension> 
  <extension url="http://hl7.org/fhir/StructureDefinition/structuredefinition-fmm">
    <valueInteger value="0"/> 
  </extension> 
  <url value="http://terminology.hl7.org/ValueSet/v3-ActClassObservation"/> 
  <identifier> 
    <system value="urn:ietf:rfc:3986"/> 
    <value value="urn:oid:2.16.840.1.113883.1.11.11529"/> 
  </identifier> 
  <version value="2014-03-26"/> 
  <name value="v3.ActClassObservation"/> 
  <title value="V3 Value SetActClassObservation"/> 
  <status value="active"/> 
  <experimental value="false"/> 
  <publisher value="HL7 v3"/> 
  <contact> 
    <telecom> 
      <system value="url"/> 
      <value value="http://www.hl7.org"/> 
    </telecom> 
  </contact> 
  <description value="  Description:
An act that is intended to result in new information about a subject. The main difference
     between Observations and other Acts is that Observations have a value attribute. Thecode
attribute of Observation and thevalue
attribute of Observation must be considered in combination to determine the semantics
     of the observation.  Discussion:
 Structurally, many observations are name-value-pairs, where the Observation.code (inherited
     from Act) is the name and the Observation.value is the value of the property. Such a construct
     is also known as a  variable (a named feature that can assume a value) hence, the Observation
     class is always used to hold generic name-value-pairs or variables, even though the variable
     valuation may not be the result of an elaborate observation method. It may be a simple
     answer to a question or it may be an assertion or setting of a parameter. As with all
     Act statements, Observation statements describe what was done, and in the case of Observations,
     this includes a description of what was actually observed (results or answers); and those
     results or answers are part of the observation and not split off into other objects. The
     method of action is asserted by the Observation classCode or its subclasses at the least
     granular level, by the Observation.code attribute value at the medium level of granularity,
     and by the attribute value of observation.methodCode when a finer level of granularity
     is required. The method in whole or in part may also appear in the attribute value of
     Observation.value when using coded data types to express the value of the attribute. Relevant
     aspects of methodology may also be restated in value when the results themselves imply
     or state a methodology. An observation may consist of component observations each having
     their own Observation.code and Observation.value. In this case, the composite observation
     may not have an Observation.value for itself. For instance, a white blood cell count consists
     of the sub-observations for the counts of the various granulocytes, lymphocytes and other
     normal or abnormal blood cells (e.g., blasts). The overall white blood cell count Observation
     itself may therefore not have a value by itself (even though it could have one, e.g.,
     the sum total of white blood cells). Thus, as long as an Act is essentially an Act of
     recognizing and noting information about a subject, it is an Observation, regardless of
     whether it has a simple value by itself or whether it has sub-observations. Even though
     observations are professional acts (see Act) and as such are intentional actions, this
     does not require that every possible outcome of an observation be pondered in advance
     of it being actually made. For instance, differential white blood cell counts (WBC) rarely
     show blasts, but if they do, this is part of the WBC observation even though blasts might
     not be predefined in the structure of a normal WBC. Clinical documents commonly have Subjective
     and Objective findings, both of which are kinds of Observations. In addition, clinical
     documents commonly contain Assessments, which are also kinds of Observations. Thus, the
     establishment of a diagnosis is an Observation.  Examples:
   Recording the results of a Family History Assessment  Laboratory test and associated
     result  Physical exam test and associated result  Device temperature  Soil lead level"/> 
  <immutable value="true"/> 
  <compose> 
    <include> 
      <system value="http://terminology.hl7.org/CodeSystem/v3-ActClass"/> 
      <filter> 
        <property value="concept"/> 
        <op value="is-a"/> 
        <value value="OBS"/> 
      </filter> 
    </include> 
  </compose> 
</ValueSet> 

Usage note: every effort has been made to ensure that the examples are correct and useful, but they are not a normative part of the specification.