Recording Imprecise Heart Rates

Tip:

It is sometimes necessary to record imprecise values of physical quantities such as Heart Rate. This is possible through flavors of null values and the abstract type quantity (QTY) specialization of physical quantities. Further information about how to represent this is defined in the V3 specification. This may be found on the HL7 V3 ballot website under the topics

• Foundation->Data Types (Abstract)->Introduction->Data Value (Any)->Exceptional Value Detail
• Foundation->Data Types (Abstract)->Basic Types->Abstract Type Quantity (QTY)

Some examples include:

Heart Rate "Absent"

<observation>
  :
  <value xsi:type='PQ' value='0' unit='/min'/>
</observation> 

Heart Rate unknown as "Not heard"

<observation>
  :
  <value xsi:type='PQ' nullFlavor='ASKU'>
</observation>

Heart Rate as a range "120-160"

after discussion, more clinical precision is needed. Do not represent as a range.

Heart Rate with interpretation: "140" "Normal"

<observation>
  :
  <value value='140' unit='/min'/>
  <interpretationCode code='Normal'/>
</observation>