Care Plans | Medplum

Care Plans are representations of protocols that patients are meant to follow. They exist in two modes:

In abstract, a protocol that could apply to a hypothetical patient, which is represented in FHIR as a PlanDefinition.
In concrete, a protocol that is planned for a specific patient, the PlanDefinition is instantiated (in FHIR terms, they call this $apply) into an optional CarePlan with a linked RequestGroup representing all the items that need to be done and their status.

It can be helpful to think of the historical analogs to these resources in the physical world. A PlanDefinition can be thought of as a written manual or protocol document that would be given to staff for training. A CarePlan/RequestGroup can be thought of a checklist that is added to a patient chart.

Key Resources

Tasks

CarePlan
Goal	Reduce Fall Risk by 10%

Task
Complete ICA Assessment
Schedule Appointment

Questionnaire
ICA Screen

Schedule
Dr. Alice Smith's schedule

Patient
Homer Simpson

Resource	Description
`Task`	A workhorse resource defining all clinical work items to be completed.
`Goal`	A resource to define a measurable target to achieve.
`CarePlan`	A grouping resource to organize a group of `Tasks` for each `Patient`.
`PlanDefinition`	A resource that defines a clinical protocol that can be implemented on a per-patient basis.
`RequestGroup`	A resource that can define complex relationships between tasks, including temporal tasks, recurring tasks, mutually exclusive tasks, etc.

Key Code Systems

Code System	Description
LOINC	Used to define the target measure of a `Goal` resource.

Other Resources

Note

Feel free to reach out to us at hello@medplum.com if you have questions about your care plan setup.

Care planning can range from very simple - for example, a single prescription, to very complex - like a surgery with post operative follow up, evaluations, medications and more. For basic use, we recommend looking at reference care plans and customizing them to your needs.

Sample Care Plan Resources including PlanDefinition, CarePlan and RequestGroup
PlanDefinitions on Medplum App - if you look at the tabs, you will see an $apply tab that allows you to convert a PlanDefinition into a RequestGroup that belongs to a specific patient.
RequestGroup on Medplum App
PlanDefinition Builder sample on Storybook
RequestGroup sample on Storybook
Care Plan Features and Fixes on Github
Key Resources
Key Code Systems
Other Resources