FHIR Practitioner Resource (R5)

Practitioner describes a person involved in care delivery: physician, nurse, pharmacist. Element table, search parameters, example JSON and FHIRPath for FHIR R5.

FHIR Practitioner Resource (R5) — part of the free FHIR Toolbox library.
Runs entirely in your browser: your FHIR data is never uploaded to a server.

Overview

Practitioner describes a person involved in care delivery: physician, nurse, pharmacist. Practitioner holds who they are (name, identifiers such as NPI, contact details, qualifications); where and in what role they work is modelled by PractitionerRole.

Elements

Element	Type	Cardinality	Description
Practitioner.identifier	Identifier	0..*	An identifier for the person as this agent
Practitioner.active	boolean	0..1	Whether this practitioner's record is in active use
Practitioner.name	HumanName	0..*	The name(s) associated with the practitioner
Practitioner.telecom	ContactPoint	0..*	A contact detail for the practitioner (that apply to all roles)
Practitioner.gender	code	0..1	male \| female \| other \| unknown
Practitioner.birthDate	date	0..1	The date on which the practitioner was born
Practitioner.deceased[x]	boolean \| dateTime	0..1	Indicates if the practitioner is deceased or not
Practitioner.address	Address	0..*	Address(es) of the practitioner that are not role specific (typically home address)
Practitioner.photo	Attachment	0..*	Image of the person
Practitioner.qualification	BackboneElement	0..*	Qualifications, certifications, accreditations, licenses, training, etc. pertaining to the provision of care
Practitioner.qualification.id	String	0..1	Unique id for inter-element referencing
Practitioner.qualification.extension	Extension	0..*	Additional content defined by implementations
Practitioner.qualification.modifierExtension	Extension	0..*	Extensions that cannot be ignored even if unrecognized
Practitioner.qualification.identifier	Identifier	0..*	An identifier for this qualification for the practitioner
Practitioner.qualification.code	CodeableConcept	1..1	Coded representation of the qualification
Practitioner.qualification.period	Period	0..1	Period during which the qualification is valid
Practitioner.qualification.issuer	Reference	0..1	Organization that regulates and issues the qualification
Practitioner.communication	BackboneElement	0..*	A language which may be used to communicate with the practitioner
Practitioner.communication.id	String	0..1	Unique id for inter-element referencing
Practitioner.communication.extension	Extension	0..*	Additional content defined by implementations
Practitioner.communication.modifierExtension	Extension	0..*	Extensions that cannot be ignored even if unrecognized
Practitioner.communication.language	CodeableConcept	1..1	The language code used to communicate with the practitioner
Practitioner.communication.preferred	boolean	0..1	Language preference indicator

Example JSON (R5)

{
  "resourceType": "Practitioner",
  "id": "example",
  "identifier": [
    {
      "system": "http://hl7.org/fhir/sid/us-npi",
      "value": "1234567893"
    }
  ],
  "active": true,
  "name": [
    {
      "family": "Johnson",
      "given": [
        "Alice"
      ],
      "prefix": [
        "Dr."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "telecom": [
    {
      "system": "email",
      "value": "a.johnson@example.org"
    }
  ],
  "qualification": [
    {
      "code": {
        "coding": [
          {
            "system": "http://terminology.hl7.org/CodeSystem/v2-0360",
            "code": "MD"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

FHIRPath

Practitioner.identifier.where(system='http://hl7.org/fhir/sid/us-npi').value — NPI number
Practitioner.name.family — Family name

Common validation errors

Putting role, specialty or organization directly on Practitioner. That belongs in PractitionerRole.
Sending an NPI without system http://hl7.org/fhir/sid/us-npi.
Treating name as a single object rather than an array.

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