I have a wound-scanning device that produces three values, such as left heel, right heel, and sacrum.
I want to create an observation using Observation.Create (LDA-W) (R4). For this, I created the backend application in Epic Sandbox.
As per the epic document, I need to use an extension (SequelTo) while creating the observation.
As per my understanding, the meaning of extension (SequelTo) is that I need to add the reference of the parent observation to the current observation.
What is an extension (SequelTo)?
How do I get the parent observation?
How do you create an observation for a new patient?
Not able to add observation because it required parent observation.
Extensibility is a critical aspect of FHIR that allows resources and elements to serialize additional values/attributes that are not part of the official standard. Think of it as a way to add custom data when the standard data model doesn't fit your exact needs. I recommend reading up on extensibility in FHIR to gain a full understanding.
Observation Sequel To is an extension that associates an observation with another. In the context of wound care, you could have an initial Observation of the wound's width and location, and then subsequent Observations that track the updated wound width. When creating one of those subsequent wound assessments, you could link it back to the initial observation through this extension.
Assuming the initial wound documentation is in place, you can use Observation.Search to get the FHIR ID of the Observation and use that in the sequelTo extension.