This package contains a collection of clinical Observations traditionally called “Vital Signs” because they are measurements of the body’s basic functions. The absence of a pulse, respiration, or blood pressure are indications that the patient is dead, hence the term “vital” in the name. Traditionally, there are four vital signs: Heart rate or pulse; Respiration rate, Blood pressure, and Body temperature. Body height and Body weight are also often included among vital signs because these measurements are often used (in conjunction with other observations) to provide a gross indication of potential health concerns. The FHIM includes a seventh vital sign, Blood oxygen saturation, as the human body requires a specific balance of oxygen in the blood below which organ function may be compromised.

Another reason why vital signs are treated separately from other observations is that historically, vital signs have been located in a particular location in a paper medical record.

Individual organizations or medical specialties will often include other common clinical observation under the heading of “vital signs”, such as a Pain scale, or Head circumference (for newborns). The FHIM treats these measurements as simply other clinical observations. Again, there is no difference between a vital sign observation and a non-vital sign observation, other than vital signs are a named set of observations.

This package contains sub-packages for each of the seven vital signs. These sub-packages contain an example "Detailed Clinical Model" (DCM) in which we constrain (using UML re-defines) and extend the generic clinical Observation to define a particular vital sign. These sub-packages are meant to show how such DCMs would be modeled. Note that a DCM is analogous to a FHIR Profile.

Classifiers

BloodPressureCuffSize

BloodPressureMeasurementDiastolicEndpoint

BloodPressureMeasurementMethod

BloodPressureMeasurementSite

CoreVitalSigns

HeartRateMeasurementMethod

HeartRateMeasurementSite

HeightMeasurementBodyPosition

ObservationQualifier

OxygenProvisionDevice

PatientBodyTemperatureMeasurementSite

PatientHeightDeterminationMethod

PatientMeasurementBodyExposureState

PatientMeasurementBodyPosition

PatientMeasurementSleepStatus

PatientState

PatientStateExertionStatus

PatientWeightDeterminationDevice

PatientWeightDeterminationMethod

VitalSignResultValueSet

VitalSignsObservationList

Diagrams

VitalSigns

Properties: