Group | Medplum
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Represents a defined collection of entities that may be discussed or acted upon collectively but which are not expected to act collectively, and are not formally or legally recognized; i.e. a collection of entities that isn't an Organization.
Elements [](/content/docs/api/fhir/resources/group#elements "Direct link to Elements"/index.html)
| Name | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| identifier | Identifier[] | Unique id Details A unique business identifier for this group. |
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| active | boolean | Whether this group's record is in active use Details Indicates whether the record for the group is available for use or is merely being retained for historical purposes. |
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| type | ✓ | code | person animal practitioner device medication substance Details Identifies the broad classification of the kind of resources the group includes. |
| actual | ✓ | boolean | Descriptive or actual Details If true, indicates that the resource refers to a specific group of real individuals. If false, the group defines a set of intended individuals. |
| code | CodeableConcept | Kind of Group members Details Provides a specific type of resource the group includes; e.g. "cow", "syringe", etc. This would generally be omitted for Person resources. |
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| name | string | Label for Group Details A label assigned to the group for human identification and communication. |
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| quantity | unsignedInt | Number of members Details A count of the number of resource instances that are part of the group. Note that the quantity may be less than the number of members if some of the members are not active. |
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| managingEntity | Reference< Organization |
Entity that is the custodian of the Group's definition Details Entity responsible for defining and maintaining Group characteristics and/or registered members. |
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| characteristic | GroupCharacteristic[] | Include / Exclude group members by Trait Details Identifies traits whose presence or absence is shared by members of the group. |
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| id | string | Unique id for inter-element referencing Details Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces. |
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| extension | Extension[] | Additional content defined by implementations Details May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element. |
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| modifierExtension | Extension[] | Extensions that cannot be ignored even if unrecognized Details 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. |
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| code | ✓ | CodeableConcept | Kind of characteristic Details A code that identifies the kind of trait being asserted. |
| value[x] | ✓ | CodeableConcept, boolean, Quantity, Range, Reference<> | Value held by characteristic Details The value of the trait that holds (or does not hold - see 'exclude') for members of the group. |
| exclude | ✓ | boolean | Group includes or excludes Details If true, indicates the characteristic is one that is NOT held by members of the group. |
| period | Period | Period over which characteristic is tested Details The period over which the characteristic is tested; e.g. the patient had an operation during the month of June. |
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| member | GroupMember[] | Who or what is in group Details Identifies the resource instances that are members of the group. |
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| id | string | Unique id for inter-element referencing Details Unique id for the element within a resource (for internal references). This may be any string value that does not contain spaces. |
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| extension | Extension[] | Additional content defined by implementations Details May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the element. |
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| modifierExtension | Extension[] | Extensions that cannot be ignored even if unrecognized Details 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. |
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| entity | ✓ | Reference< Patient |
Reference to the group member Details A reference to the entity that is a member of the group. Must be consistent with Group.type. If the entity is another group, then the type must be the same. |
| period | Period | Period member belonged to the group Details The period that the member was in the group, if known. |
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| inactive | boolean | If member is no longer in group Details A flag to indicate that the member is no longer in the group, but previously may have been a member. |
Search Parameters [](/content/docs/api/fhir/resources/group#search-parameters "Direct link to Search Parameters"/index.html)
| Name | Type | Description | Expression |
|---|---|---|---|
| actual | token | Descriptive or actual | Group.actual |
| characteristic | token | Kind of characteristic | Group.characteristic.code |
| code | token | The kind of resources contained | Group.code |
| exclude | token | Group includes or excludes | Group.characteristic.exclude |
| identifier | token | Unique id | Group.identifier |
| managing-entity | reference | Entity that is the custodian of the Group's definition | Group.managingEntity |
| member | reference | Reference to the group member | Group.member.entity |
| type | token | The type of resources the group contains | Group.type |
| value | token | Value held by characteristic | Group.characteristic.value.ofType(CodeableConcept) |
| characteristic-value | composite | A composite of both characteristic and value | Group.characteristic |
| name | string | The name of the group | Group.name |
| characteristic-range | quantity | The name of the client application | Group.characteristic.value.ofType(Range) |
| characteristic-reference | reference | An entity referenced in a characteristic | Group.characteristic.value.ofType(Reference) |
Inherited Elements [](/content/docs/api/fhir/resources/group#inherited-elements "Direct link to Inherited Elements"/index.html)
| Name | Required | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| id | string | Logical id of this artifact Details The logical id of the resource, as used in the URL for the resource. Once assigned, this value never changes. The only time that a resource does not have an id is when it is being submitted to the server using a create operation. |
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| meta | Meta | Metadata about the resource Details The metadata about the resource. |
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| implicitRules | uri | A set of rules under which this content was created Details A reference to a set of rules that were followed when the resource was constructed, and which must be understood when processing the content. |
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| language | code | Language of the resource content Details The base language in which the resource is written. |
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| text | Narrative | Text summary of the resource, for human interpretation Details 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. |
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| contained | Resource[] | Contained, inline Resources Details These resources do not have an independent existence apart from the resource that contains them - they cannot be identified independently, and nor can they have their own independent transaction scope. |
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| extension | Extension[] | Additional content defined by implementations Details May be used to represent additional information that is not part of the basic definition of the resource. |
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| modifierExtension | Extension[] | Extensions that cannot be ignored Details 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. |
Use Cases [link to here](/content/docs/api/fhir/resources/group "link to here"/index.html)
The Group resource is used in one of two ways:
- To define a group of specific people, animals, devices, etc. that is being tracked, examined or otherwise referenced as part of healthcare-related activities
- To define a set of possible people, animals, devices, etc. that are of interest for some intended future healthcare-related activities
Examples of the former could include group therapy or treatment sessions, exposed entities tracked as part of public health, etc. The latter might be used to define expected subjects for a clinical study.
Both use cases are handled by a single resource because the data elements captured tend to be similar.