Definition

An interaction between a patient and care provider(s) for the purpose of providing healthcare-related service(s). The scope of an encounter is according to local business rules. For example, in some organizations the time spent in an Emergency Room prior to admission as an inpatient to the institution would be treated as a separate encounter. In other organizations, the same circumstances may be represented as a single encounter. Each type of encounter is likely to be defined according to local business rules.

Synonyms

Patient Encounter,

Patient Contact,

Visit

EHRi Identifier

EHRi Encounter identifier as assigned by Point of Service System (POS).

Definition References

HL7 Reference Information Model as modified by Harmonization Meeting March 2005

Rationale

The bolded statement is from the HL7 RIM. Qualifying statements are to clarify for EHRi purposes. For EHRS Reference Architecture, the encounter identifier is recorded as reported by the POS system, with no attempt to normalize to a common business rule.

Business Process Implications

Significant change management would be required to permit recording of a single definition of Encounter to enable comparability over time and across organizations.

Implementation Implications

Unless a POS system is participating in an operational encounter management process, the encounter instance may be considered a contact with a separate registration or admitting POS system. Encounters as retrieved may not be at a comparable level of specificity. Encounter management is out of scope for the EHRi.

Attributes
Name	Type	Initial Value
Confidentiality Code
Mood Code
Priority Code
Sub-Type
Text Description

Relations
Name	Type	Begins	Ends
Contains	association	Care Statement	Encounter
Contains	association	Health Profile	Encounter
Contains	association	Entry Choice	Encounter
	generalization	Encounter	Service Episode
	generalization	Inpatient	Encounter
	generalization	Emergent	Encounter
	generalization	Long Stay	Encounter
	generalization	Home	Encounter
	generalization	Ambulatory	Encounter
	generalization	Virtual	Encounter
	generalization	Short Stay	Encounter
	generalization	Field	Encounter
	generalization	Encompassing Encounter	Encounter