FHIR Release 3 (STU) 4

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12.13 Resource Slot - Content

Patient Administration Work Group Maturity Level : 3   Trial Use Security Category : Business Compartments : Not linked to any defined compartments

A slot of time on a schedule that may be available for booking appointments.

12.13.1 Scope and Usage

Slot resources are used to provide time-slots that can be booked using an appointment. They do not provide any information about appointments that are available, just the time, and optionally what the time can be used for. These are effectively spaces of free/busy time.
Slots can also be marked as busy without having appointments associated.

A slot can have more than one appointment allocated to it. A scheduling system may permit multiple allocations up to a specific number of places. An example of this type of usage could be where the slot is being used for a group service that permits 5 participants at the same time.

A slot can be marked as over-booked indicating that there are too many appointments allocated to it.

In some situations a service may have a specific set of slots reserved for specific uses, such as "walk-ins" "walk-ins" or a specific organization has a "standing booking" "standing booking" for Thursday mornings. These should be represented using the appointmentType field with a specified and agreed value.
Security Permissions or specific business rules on the system could enforce that only eligible appointments are allocated to them.

If a service had a weekly schedule created that permitted eight 1 hour appointments each day of a working week (Monday - Friday), this would be constructed by a single Schedule resource with the dates for the start and end of the week set, and then 40 (5x8) Slot resources associated with it.
As appointments fill up the schedule, these slots would individually be marked as busy as the appointments are filled into the slots.
The slots in a schedule do not need to be the same size, and can be different for different days of the week.

Slot instances do not have any recurrence information included. If recurring information is desired, this will be managed outside these resources, or included as extensions.

Note that booking an appointment does not necessarily require that slot resources be identified. When attempting to book an appointment, if the requestor knows ahead of time which schedulable resources are required, then identifying individual slots from the resources' schedules prior to creating the appointment is appropriate. However, in some medical scheduling scenarios, determining which resources are required for an appointment is very complex, and options other than using schedule+slot may be a better solution.

This resource is referenced by appointment Appointment

12.13.2 Resource Content

Structure

Name Flags Card. Type Description & Constraints doco
. . Slot TU DomainResource A slot of time on a schedule that may be available for booking appointments
Elements defined in Ancestors: id , meta , implicitRules , language , text , contained , extension , modifierExtension
. . . identifier Σ 0..* Identifier External Ids for this item
. . . serviceCategory Σ 0..1 0..* CodeableConcept A broad categorisation categorization of the service that is to be performed during this appointment
ServiceCategory Service category ( Example )
. . . serviceType Σ 0..* CodeableConcept The type of appointments that can be booked into this slot (ideally this would be an identifiable service - which is at a location, rather than the location itself). If provided then this overrides the value provided on the availability resource
ServiceType Service type ( Example )
. . . specialty Σ 0..* CodeableConcept The specialty of a practitioner that would be required to perform the service requested in this appointment
Practice Setting Code Value Set ( Preferred )
. . . appointmentType Σ 0..1 CodeableConcept The style of appointment or patient that may be booked in the slot (not service type)
v2 Appointment reason codes Reason Codes ( Preferred )
. . . schedule Σ 1..1 Reference ( Schedule ) The schedule resource that this slot defines an interval of status information
. . . status Σ 1..1 code busy | free | busy-unavailable | busy-tentative | entered-in-error
SlotStatus ( Required )
. . . start Σ 1..1 instant Date/Time that the slot is to begin
. . . end Σ 1..1 instant Date/Time that the slot is to conclude
. . . overbooked 0..1 boolean This slot has already been overbooked, appointments are unlikely to be accepted for this time
. . . comment 0..1 string Comments on the slot to describe any extended information. Such as custom constraints on the slot

doco Documentation for this format

UML Diagram ( Legend )

Slot ( DomainResource ) External Ids for this item identifier : Identifier [0..*] A broad categorisation categorization of the service that is to be performed during this appointment serviceCategory : CodeableConcept [0..1] [0..*] « (Strength=Example) ServiceCategory ?? » The type of appointments that can be booked into this slot (ideally this would be an identifiable service - which is at a location, rather than the location itself). If provided then this overrides the value provided on the availability resource serviceType : CodeableConcept [0..*] « (Strength=Example) ServiceType ?? » The specialty of a practitioner that would be required to perform the service requested in this appointment specialty : CodeableConcept [0..*] « Additional details about where the content was created (e.g. clinical specialty). (Strength=Preferred) Practice Setting Code Value S... PracticeSettingCodeValueSet ? » The style of appointment or patient that may be booked in the slot (not service type) appointmentType : CodeableConcept [0..1] « (Strength=Preferred) v2 Appointment reason v2.0276 ? » The schedule resource that this slot defines an interval of status information schedule : Reference [1..1] « Schedule » busy | free | busy-unavailable | busy-tentative | entered-in-error status : code [1..1] « The free/busy status of the slot. (Strength=Required) SlotStatus ! » Date/Time that the slot is to begin start : instant [1..1] Date/Time that the slot is to conclude end : instant [1..1] This slot has already been overbooked, appointments are unlikely to be accepted for this time overbooked : boolean [0..1] Comments on the slot to describe any extended information. Such as custom constraints on the slot comment : string [0..1]

XML Template 

<

<Slot xmlns="http://hl7.org/fhir"> doco

 <!-- from Resource: id, meta, implicitRules, and language -->
 <!-- from DomainResource: text, contained, extension, and modifierExtension -->
 <identifier><!-- 0..* Identifier External Ids for this item --></identifier>
 <</serviceCategory>

 <serviceCategory><!-- 0..* CodeableConcept A broad categorization of the service that is to be performed during this appointment --></serviceCategory>

 <serviceType><!-- 0..* CodeableConcept The type of appointments that can be booked into this slot (ideally this would be an identifiable service - which is at a location, rather than the location itself). If provided then this overrides the value provided on the availability resource --></serviceType>
 <specialty><!-- 0..* CodeableConcept The specialty of a practitioner that would be required to perform the service requested in this appointment --></specialty>
 <appointmentType><!-- 0..1 CodeableConcept The style of appointment or patient that may be booked in the slot (not service type) --></appointmentType>
 <schedule><!-- 1..1 Reference(Schedule) The schedule resource that this slot defines an interval of status information --></schedule>
 <
 <
 <
 <
 <

 <status value="[code]"/><!-- 1..1 busy | free | busy-unavailable | busy-tentative | entered-in-error -->
 <start value="[instant]"/><!-- 1..1 Date/Time that the slot is to begin -->
 <end value="[instant]"/><!-- 1..1 Date/Time that the slot is to conclude -->
 <overbooked value="[boolean]"/><!-- 0..1 This slot has already been overbooked, appointments are unlikely to be accepted for this time -->
 <comment value="[string]"/><!-- 0..1 Comments on the slot to describe any extended information. Such as custom constraints on the slot -->

</Slot>

JSON Template 

{doco
  "resourceType" : "",

  "resourceType" : "Slot",

  // from Resource: id, meta, implicitRules, and language
  // from DomainResource: text, contained, extension, and modifierExtension
  "
  "
  "
  "
  "
  "
  "
  "
  "
  "
  "

  "identifier" : [{ Identifier }], // External Ids for this item
  "serviceCategory" : [{ CodeableConcept }], // A broad categorization of the service that is to be performed during this appointment
  "serviceType" : [{ CodeableConcept }], // The type of appointments that can be booked into this slot (ideally this would be an identifiable service - which is at a location, rather than the location itself). If provided then this overrides the value provided on the availability resource
  "specialty" : [{ CodeableConcept }], // The specialty of a practitioner that would be required to perform the service requested in this appointment
  "appointmentType" : { CodeableConcept }, // The style of appointment or patient that may be booked in the slot (not service type)
  "schedule" : { Reference(Schedule) }, // R!  The schedule resource that this slot defines an interval of status information
  "status" : "<code>", // R!  busy | free | busy-unavailable | busy-tentative | entered-in-error
  "start" : "<instant>", // R!  Date/Time that the slot is to begin
  "end" : "<instant>", // R!  Date/Time that the slot is to conclude
  "overbooked" : <boolean>, // This slot has already been overbooked, appointments are unlikely to be accepted for this time
  "comment" : "<string>" // Comments on the slot to describe any extended information. Such as custom constraints on the slot

}

Turtle Template 

@prefix fhir: <http://hl7.org/fhir/> .doco


[ a fhir:Slot;
  fhir:nodeRole fhir:treeRoot; # if this is the parser root

  # from Resource: .id, .meta, .implicitRules, and .language
  # from DomainResource: .text, .contained, .extension, and .modifierExtension
  fhir:Slot.identifier [ Identifier ], ... ; # 0..* External Ids for this item
  fhir:

  fhir:Slot.serviceCategory [ CodeableConcept ], ... ; # 0..* A broad categorization of the service that is to be performed during this appointment

  fhir:Slot.serviceType [ CodeableConcept ], ... ; # 0..* The type of appointments that can be booked into this slot (ideally this would be an identifiable service - which is at a location, rather than the location itself). If provided then this overrides the value provided on the availability resource
  fhir:Slot.specialty [ CodeableConcept ], ... ; # 0..* The specialty of a practitioner that would be required to perform the service requested in this appointment
  fhir:Slot.appointmentType [ CodeableConcept ]; # 0..1 The style of appointment or patient that may be booked in the slot (not service type)
  fhir:Slot.schedule [ Reference(Schedule) ]; # 1..1 The schedule resource that this slot defines an interval of status information
  fhir:Slot.status [ code ]; # 1..1 busy | free | busy-unavailable | busy-tentative | entered-in-error
  fhir:Slot.start [ instant ]; # 1..1 Date/Time that the slot is to begin
  fhir:Slot.end [ instant ]; # 1..1 Date/Time that the slot is to conclude
  fhir:Slot.overbooked [ boolean ]; # 0..1 This slot has already been overbooked, appointments are unlikely to be accepted for this time
  fhir:Slot.comment [ string ]; # 0..1 Comments on the slot to describe any extended information. Such as custom constraints on the slot
]

Changes since DSTU2 R3

Slot.serviceCategory Slot.specialty Added Element Slot.appointmentType Added Element
Slot Added Element
Slot.serviceType Slot.serviceCategory
  • Renamed from type to serviceType Max Cardinality changed from 1 to *
Slot.status
  • Renamed Change value set from freeBusyType http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/slotstatus to status http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/slotstatus|4.0.1

See the Full Difference for further information

This analysis is available as XML or JSON .

See R2 <--> R3 <--> R4 Conversion Maps (status = 4 tests that all execute ok. All tests pass round-trip testing and all r3 resources are valid.). valid.)

Structure

Name Flags Card. Type Description & Constraints doco
. . Slot TU DomainResource A slot of time on a schedule that may be available for booking appointments
Elements defined in Ancestors: id , meta , implicitRules , language , text , contained , extension , modifierExtension
. . . identifier Σ 0..* Identifier External Ids for this item
. . . serviceCategory Σ 0..1 0..* CodeableConcept A broad categorisation categorization of the service that is to be performed during this appointment
ServiceCategory Service category ( Example )
. . . serviceType Σ 0..* CodeableConcept The type of appointments that can be booked into this slot (ideally this would be an identifiable service - which is at a location, rather than the location itself). If provided then this overrides the value provided on the availability resource
ServiceType Service type ( Example )
. . . specialty Σ 0..* CodeableConcept The specialty of a practitioner that would be required to perform the service requested in this appointment
Practice Setting Code Value Set ( Preferred )
. . . appointmentType Σ 0..1 CodeableConcept The style of appointment or patient that may be booked in the slot (not service type)
v2 Appointment reason codes Reason Codes ( Preferred )
. . . schedule Σ 1..1 Reference ( Schedule ) The schedule resource that this slot defines an interval of status information
. . . status Σ 1..1 code busy | free | busy-unavailable | busy-tentative | entered-in-error
SlotStatus ( Required )
. . . start Σ 1..1 instant Date/Time that the slot is to begin
. . . end Σ 1..1 instant Date/Time that the slot is to conclude
. . . overbooked 0..1 boolean This slot has already been overbooked, appointments are unlikely to be accepted for this time
. . . comment 0..1 string Comments on the slot to describe any extended information. Such as custom constraints on the slot

doco Documentation for this format

UML Diagram ( Legend )

Slot ( DomainResource ) External Ids for this item identifier : Identifier [0..*] A broad categorisation categorization of the service that is to be performed during this appointment serviceCategory : CodeableConcept [0..1] [0..*] « (Strength=Example) ServiceCategory ?? » The type of appointments that can be booked into this slot (ideally this would be an identifiable service - which is at a location, rather than the location itself). If provided then this overrides the value provided on the availability resource serviceType : CodeableConcept [0..*] « (Strength=Example) ServiceType ?? » The specialty of a practitioner that would be required to perform the service requested in this appointment specialty : CodeableConcept [0..*] « Additional details about where the content was created (e.g. clinical specialty). (Strength=Preferred) Practice Setting Code Value S... PracticeSettingCodeValueSet ? » The style of appointment or patient that may be booked in the slot (not service type) appointmentType : CodeableConcept [0..1] « (Strength=Preferred) v2 Appointment reason v2.0276 ? » The schedule resource that this slot defines an interval of status information schedule : Reference [1..1] « Schedule » busy | free | busy-unavailable | busy-tentative | entered-in-error status : code [1..1] « The free/busy status of the slot. (Strength=Required) SlotStatus ! » Date/Time that the slot is to begin start : instant [1..1] Date/Time that the slot is to conclude end : instant [1..1] This slot has already been overbooked, appointments are unlikely to be accepted for this time overbooked : boolean [0..1] Comments on the slot to describe any extended information. Such as custom constraints on the slot comment : string [0..1]

XML Template 

<

<Slot xmlns="http://hl7.org/fhir"> doco

 <!-- from Resource: id, meta, implicitRules, and language -->
 <!-- from DomainResource: text, contained, extension, and modifierExtension -->
 <identifier><!-- 0..* Identifier External Ids for this item --></identifier>
 <</serviceCategory>

 <serviceCategory><!-- 0..* CodeableConcept A broad categorization of the service that is to be performed during this appointment --></serviceCategory>

 <serviceType><!-- 0..* CodeableConcept The type of appointments that can be booked into this slot (ideally this would be an identifiable service - which is at a location, rather than the location itself). If provided then this overrides the value provided on the availability resource --></serviceType>
 <specialty><!-- 0..* CodeableConcept The specialty of a practitioner that would be required to perform the service requested in this appointment --></specialty>
 <appointmentType><!-- 0..1 CodeableConcept The style of appointment or patient that may be booked in the slot (not service type) --></appointmentType>
 <schedule><!-- 1..1 Reference(Schedule) The schedule resource that this slot defines an interval of status information --></schedule>
 <
 <
 <
 <
 <

 <status value="[code]"/><!-- 1..1 busy | free | busy-unavailable | busy-tentative | entered-in-error -->
 <start value="[instant]"/><!-- 1..1 Date/Time that the slot is to begin -->
 <end value="[instant]"/><!-- 1..1 Date/Time that the slot is to conclude -->
 <overbooked value="[boolean]"/><!-- 0..1 This slot has already been overbooked, appointments are unlikely to be accepted for this time -->
 <comment value="[string]"/><!-- 0..1 Comments on the slot to describe any extended information. Such as custom constraints on the slot -->

</Slot>

JSON Template 

{doco
  "resourceType" : "",

  "resourceType" : "Slot",

  // from Resource: id, meta, implicitRules, and language
  // from DomainResource: text, contained, extension, and modifierExtension
  "
  "
  "
  "
  "
  "
  "
  "
  "
  "
  "

  "identifier" : [{ Identifier }], // External Ids for this item
  "serviceCategory" : [{ CodeableConcept }], // A broad categorization of the service that is to be performed during this appointment
  "serviceType" : [{ CodeableConcept }], // The type of appointments that can be booked into this slot (ideally this would be an identifiable service - which is at a location, rather than the location itself). If provided then this overrides the value provided on the availability resource
  "specialty" : [{ CodeableConcept }], // The specialty of a practitioner that would be required to perform the service requested in this appointment
  "appointmentType" : { CodeableConcept }, // The style of appointment or patient that may be booked in the slot (not service type)
  "schedule" : { Reference(Schedule) }, // R!  The schedule resource that this slot defines an interval of status information
  "status" : "<code>", // R!  busy | free | busy-unavailable | busy-tentative | entered-in-error
  "start" : "<instant>", // R!  Date/Time that the slot is to begin
  "end" : "<instant>", // R!  Date/Time that the slot is to conclude
  "overbooked" : <boolean>, // This slot has already been overbooked, appointments are unlikely to be accepted for this time
  "comment" : "<string>" // Comments on the slot to describe any extended information. Such as custom constraints on the slot

}

Turtle Template 

@prefix fhir: <http://hl7.org/fhir/> .doco


[ a fhir:Slot;
  fhir:nodeRole fhir:treeRoot; # if this is the parser root

  # from Resource: .id, .meta, .implicitRules, and .language
  # from DomainResource: .text, .contained, .extension, and .modifierExtension
  fhir:Slot.identifier [ Identifier ], ... ; # 0..* External Ids for this item
  fhir:

  fhir:Slot.serviceCategory [ CodeableConcept ], ... ; # 0..* A broad categorization of the service that is to be performed during this appointment

  fhir:Slot.serviceType [ CodeableConcept ], ... ; # 0..* The type of appointments that can be booked into this slot (ideally this would be an identifiable service - which is at a location, rather than the location itself). If provided then this overrides the value provided on the availability resource
  fhir:Slot.specialty [ CodeableConcept ], ... ; # 0..* The specialty of a practitioner that would be required to perform the service requested in this appointment
  fhir:Slot.appointmentType [ CodeableConcept ]; # 0..1 The style of appointment or patient that may be booked in the slot (not service type)
  fhir:Slot.schedule [ Reference(Schedule) ]; # 1..1 The schedule resource that this slot defines an interval of status information
  fhir:Slot.status [ code ]; # 1..1 busy | free | busy-unavailable | busy-tentative | entered-in-error
  fhir:Slot.start [ instant ]; # 1..1 Date/Time that the slot is to begin
  fhir:Slot.end [ instant ]; # 1..1 Date/Time that the slot is to conclude
  fhir:Slot.overbooked [ boolean ]; # 0..1 This slot has already been overbooked, appointments are unlikely to be accepted for this time
  fhir:Slot.comment [ string ]; # 0..1 Comments on the slot to describe any extended information. Such as custom constraints on the slot
]

Changes since DSTU2 Release 3

Slot.serviceCategory Slot.specialty Added Element Slot.appointmentType Added Element
Slot Added Element
Slot.serviceType Slot.serviceCategory
  • Renamed from type to serviceType Max Cardinality changed from 1 to *
Slot.status
  • Renamed Change value set from freeBusyType http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/slotstatus to status http://hl7.org/fhir/ValueSet/slotstatus|4.0.1

See the Full Difference for further information

This analysis is available as XML or JSON .

See R2 <--> R3 <--> R4 Conversion Maps (status = 4 tests that all execute ok. All tests pass round-trip testing and all r3 resources are valid.). valid.)

 

Alternate See the Profiles & Extensions and the alternate definitions: Master Definition ( XML , + JSON ), , XML Schema / Schematron (for ) + JSON Schema , ShEx (for Turtle ) + see the extensions & the dependency analysis

12.13.2.1 Terminology Bindings

Path Definition Type Reference
Slot.serviceCategory Example ServiceCategory
Slot.serviceType Example ServiceType
Slot.specialty Additional details about where the content was created (e.g. clinical specialty). Preferred Practice Setting Code Value Set PracticeSettingCodeValueSet
Slot.appointmentType Preferred v2 Appointment reason codes v2.0276
Slot.status The free/busy status of the slot. Required SlotStatus

12.13.3 Notes:

  • Interaction with other Standards

    • There is a strong desire that implementers of this resource should consider providing the resource in the iCalendar format as an alternative representation. Many 3rd party applications and component providers have parsers and user interface controls to display this information. This may lower the entry point to integrate outside the health-care specific applications, and into the consumer space. This would permit the easier creation of a mobile application that creates appointments in the devices native calendar.
    The iCalendar specification can be found at http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2445.txt .

12.13.4 Search Parameters

Search parameters for this resource. The common parameters also apply. See Searching for more information about searching in REST, messaging, and services.

Name Type Description Expression In Common
appointment-type token The style of appointment or patient that may be booked in the slot (not service type) Slot.appointmentType
identifier token A Slot Identifier Slot.identifier
schedule reference The Schedule Resource that we are seeking a slot within Slot.schedule
( Schedule )
slot-type service-category token A broad categorization of the service that is to be performed during this appointment Slot.serviceCategory
service-type token The type of appointments that can be booked into the slot Slot.serviceType
specialty token The specialty of a practitioner that would be required to perform the service requested in this appointment Slot.specialty
start date Appointment date/time. Slot.start
status token The free/busy status of the appointment Slot.status