The new version includes new resource types, improves subscription functionality, defines new data types.
The new version contains thousands of updates, fixes and incremental improvements. 55 new resources were defined which are now 157. Among these are those included in Medication Definition Module.
This is designed to support the regulation and manufacture of drugs, medicinal products and other medical related substances or co-packaged devices and provide a detailed description of these same items, typically for regulators but also for any context where this level of detail is needed, such as pharmacopoeias or prescribing support.
The form also describes indications and contraindications for medications, as well as details of chemicals that may be ingredients of medications. These new resources were not meant to be
used for direct patient care or for daily prescribing activities for which the form exists Medicationbut can be used to specify the “full” version of the product type, with all its information, including the available authorized packs, with their physical details and containers, down to the level of individual tablets and ingredients.
Some resources have been promoted to maturity level 5 – among the highest before becoming “normative” and therefore be blocked for backwards compatibility. FHIR is a standard”work in progress” which provides for six levels of maturity before final approval which takes place through a ballot.
Also new is the functionality for topic-based subscriptions that are now part of the base specification, enabling proactive event notifications based on data changes in the source system. New operations were then defined to efficiently manage large resources such as Groups and Lists.
Several changes have been made to the properties and new data types have been added.
