Question about using LOC participation type for multiple participants in the Appointment resource

Question

I'm working on a FHIR-based integration for surgical scheduling, and I have a question regarding the use of the participant element within the Appointment resource.

We know that participant.actor can reference Location resources, and that participant.type can include codes from http://terminology.hl7.org/CodeSystem/v3-ParticipationType, such as LOC (Location).

In our case, we would like to represent two distinct physical locations involved in a surgical appointment:

The operating block (e.g., "Block A")

The specific surgical room (e.g., "Room 3")

Is it acceptable and conformant to FHIR to have two participants in the Appointment, both with type = LOC, but each referencing a different Location?

Thank you in advance for your help .

Ashavan · Accepted Answer · 2025-07-21 20:49:43Z

0

It's conformant to FHIR, just as it would be conformant to have multiple Practitioners listed in the participant array. That said, would it be redundant to include both in the Appointment resource? What value do you see it adding by including both Locations, rather than one? Does Block A contain Room 3, or vice versa? If so, you could simply list the more specific location and it would be implied that at least a portion of the higher-level Location is tied to this Appointment. Locations can be linked to one another through the partOf element.

edited Jul 21 at 20:49

answered Jul 16 at 17:53

Ashavan

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BlessedHIT Sep 9 at 0:07

Ashavan is correct. Imagine if in future if for some reason the relationship between Block A and Room 3 were to change, will you go back to update all prior Appointment resources to fix this relationship? or will it not be easier to just adjust the relationship between Location "Block A" and Location "Room3" leaving your Appointment resources as is.

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