PA Patient Encounter

Return to Patient_Administration main page

Patient Administration Patient Encounter Messages

Introduction

HL7 V2.x Chapter 3 - Patient Administration - defines messages for events collectively called ADT (admission, discharge and transfer) or sometimes called Patient Encounter Management. The Patient Administration work group started balloting a V3 implementation of Patient Encounter messages nearly ten years ago. The first Draft Standard for Trial Use (DSTU) passed ballot in December 2003. While the DSTU was available for trail implementations the work group continued refining the content through a number of committee ballots and in May 2007 the work group produced a second DSTU. Due to lack of feedback from trial implementations the work group came close to withdrawing the standard but recent activity by Norway and Denmark has provided the feedback the work group needs. Patient Administration now intends to revise the content from the DSTU and proceed with a Normative ballot.

This WIki site is to identify issues that need to be decided before the Normative ballot.

How to Address Encounter 'Types'

The HL7 V2.x ADT messages classify encounters by Patient Class consisting of the following values.

Emergency

Inpatient

Outpatient

Preadmit

Recurring patient

Obstetrics

Although the terms do not have definitions their meanings are assumed to be understood in the industry.

The HL7 V3 Patient Encounter messages classify encounters by the ActEncounterType concept domain consisting of the following values.

• Patient Encounter- An interaction between a patient and healthcare participant(s) for the purpose of providing patient service(s) or assessing the health status of a patient. For example, outpatient visit to multiple departments, home health support (including physical therapy), inpatient hospital stay, emergency room visit, field visit (e.g., traffic accident), office visit, occupational therapy, telephone call.
  • Ambulatory Encounter - A comprehensive term for health care provided in a facility or setting that provides diagnostic, therapeutic and health maintenance services for persons not requiring stays that exceed 24 hours (e.g. a practitioner's office, clinic setting, or hospital) on a nonresident and non-emergency basis. The term ambulatory usually implies that the patient has come to the location and is not assigned to a bed. Sometimes referred to as an outpatient encounter.
  • Emergency Encounter - A patient encounter that takes place at a dedicated healthcare service delivery location where the patient receives immediate evaluation and treatment, provided until the patient can be discharged or responsibility for the patient's care is transferred elsewhere (for example, the patient could be admitted as an inpatient or transferred to another facility.)
  • Field Encounter - A patient encounter that takes place both outside a dedicated service delivery location and outside a patient's residence. Example locations might include an accident site and at a supermarket.
  • Home Health Encounter - A patient encounter where services are provided or supervised by a practitioner at the patient's residence. Services may include recurring visits for chronic or terminal conditions or visit(s) facilitating recuperation.
  • Inpatient Encounter - A patient encounter where a patient is admitted by a hospital or equivalent facility, assigned to a location where patients generally stay at least overnight and provided with room, board, and continuous nursing service.
  • Short Stay Encounter - A patient encounter where the patient is admitted to a health care facility for a predetermined length of time, usually less than 24 hours.
  • Virtual Encounter - A patient encounter where the patient and the practitioner(s) are not in the same physical location. Examples include telephone conference, email exchange, robotic surgery, and televideo conference.

The work group believes that the information model varies by encounter type. For example,

• Emergency and field encounters do not have associated appointments
• Home health encounters do not have associated transportation events, storage of valuables, or accommodation events
• Inpatient encounters may have more than one active attending practitioner (although one must be designated primary) and will always have an admitting practitioner
• Ambulatory do not have associated accommodation events

The current DSTU defines separate information models for each encounter type and for each event type (activate, revise, complete, abort, nullify). This provides clear semantics but at the cost of making the standard overly complex and prescriptive.