Observations - Lab Results

1

I am trying to identify if Observation resource can be used for capturing lab results. The data can be very specific to the lab that is sending the information. Some of the data elements for example -

  1. sequential number representing an element of a lab test result
  2. Specifies the volume of specimen collected from the Patient.
  3. Identifies the units used for quantifying the volume of specimen collected.
  4. identifier of the test performed as defined by the laboratory
  5. Healthcare Common Procedure Code or Current Procedural Terminology code
  6. patient specific details like age at the time of an observation
2

You’ll want a combination of Observation and Specimen.

  1. Observation.identifier (though you’ll generally want an Identifier.system so it’s globally unique
    2&3. Specimen.collection.quantity
  2. Observation.code
  3. Also Observation.code - you can have multiple codings
  4. We generally capture Patient.birthDate and you can calculate age. Things like height, weight, etc. would be other Observations.
3

Is there an element that we can use to clearly identify if the Observation is based on a Lab Result so we can use that as a filtering criteria?

Secondly Specimen appears to be set as TU (trial use). How does this impact over the long run?

4

Observation.category can be used to differentiate lab results from vital signs, symptoms and other types of Observations. (It can also be used to subdivide lab results, for example hematology, chemistry, microbiology, etc.) Information on the meaning of normative vs. Standard for Trial Use can be found here: http://hl7.org/fhir/versions.html

5

The information you have provide is exactly what I was looking for.

Thank you so much for taking the time and responding!