FHIR Escalation Process

As part of FHIR development, we expect that individuals and organizations will occasionally have issues with decisions made by the groups developing FHIR content. This page attempts to define the process for resolving those issues. The process will be refined as the FHIR governance process continues to be developed.

Issues fall into one of two categories: Content Issues and Process Issues

Escalation occurs by emailing the list server of the appropriate group or by emailing one of their members (who will forward it to the appropriate list)

Content issues

A content issue is one where there's concern about the content in a particular resource or profile definition or some other aspect of the FHIR specification. In some cases, the response to a content issue may be that the content is defined as it is due to FHIR guidelines and processes. In some cases this may result in the identification of a Process Issue

Escalation process:

1. Raise the issue with the Work Group responsible for the content (via ballot or list server)
2. The concern may be escalated to the FHIR Management Group (FMG) if:
   1. No Work Group has ownership of the content
   2. The concern spans content from multiple work groups
   3. Mutually satisfactory resolution cannot be achieved within the work group
3. The concern may be escalated to the FHIR Governance Board (FGB) if:
   1. There is a concern about the precepts used to reach or justify the decision made by the Work Group and/or FMG
   2. There is a concern about the prioritization and/or resource availability to the issue
4. The concern can be escalated to MnM if:
   1. The concern is with process (see process escalation below)
5. The concern may be escalated to the Technical Steering Committee (TSC) if:
   1. There is a concern about the process the FMG or FGB used when reaching their decision

Process Issues

Process issues cover concerns about the FHIR methodology itself including precepts, guidelines, QA processes, submission rules, etc. The concern might reflect methodology that exists or methodology that is proposed.

1. Raise the issue with the FHIR Management Group (FMG)
   1. The FMG may consult or delegate the issue to the Methodology Group
2. The concern may be escalated to the FHIR Governance Board (FGB) if:
   1. There is a concern about the process used by the FMG when reaching their decision
3. The concern may be escalated to the Technical Steering Committee (TSC) if:
   1. There is a concern about the process the FGB used when reaching their decision