← ReferenceResource
What is an Encounter?
An Encounter resource represents a specific interaction between a patient and a healthcare provider — an outpatient visit, an inpatient admission, an emergency visit, or a telehealth call. Most clinical resources (Observation, Condition, MedicationRequest) reference the Encounter that produced them.
Status lifecycle
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| planned | Appointment scheduled, not started |
| arrived | Patient has arrived at the facility |
| triaged | Patient assessed — used in ED workflows |
| in-progress | Encounter is active |
| finished | Encounter completed |
| cancelled | Never started; appointment cancelled |
Key elements
class— AMB (ambulatory), IMP (inpatient), EMER (emergency), VR (virtual)subject— reference to Patient (required)period— start and end datetime of encounterparticipant— clinicians involved, with individual rolesreasonCode— reason for the encounter (SNOMED, ICD-10)diagnosis— diagnoses made during encounter, linked to Conditionhospitalization— admission and discharge details for inpatient