Full Specification - EQDS

Complete FHIR Implementation Guide for Equine Healthcare

FHIR Implementation Guide for Equine Healthcare (Equine Data Standard)

Version: 1.0.2
Status: Draft
Date: 2025-08-27
Publisher: Equine Data Standard (EQDS)
Contact: equinedatastandard@gmail.com
Website: https://eqds.org
License: CC0-1.0

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Conformance Requirements
  3. Resource Profiles
  4. Extensions
  5. Terminologies
  6. Value Sets
  7. Security Considerations
  8. Exchange Rules
  9. Examples
  10. Implementation Guidance
  11. Appendices

Introduction

This is the complete technical specification for the Equine Data Standard (EQDS). For background information, use cases, and audience details, please see the EQDS homepage.

This Implementation Guide defines conformance requirements for systems exchanging equine health information using HL7® FHIR® R5. It specifies profiles, extensions, terminologies, and exchange patterns specifically designed for equine healthcare interoperability.

Out of Scope

  • Non-equine species

Conformance Requirements

Capability Statement - Conformance Requirements

Systems claiming conformance to the Equine Data Standard SHALL:

  • Support the Equine Patient profile
  • Implement at least one exchange paradigm (REST, Documents, or Messaging)
  • Support the required terminologies
  • Implement the security requirements

Maturity Levels

Resources are assigned maturity levels following FHIR conventions:

  • Level 5 (Normative) - Patient, Practitioner, Organization
  • Level 3 (Trial Use) - Observation, Procedure, Condition
  • Level 1 (Draft) - Training, Competition, Breeding extensions

Resource Profiles

Equine Patient Profile

Profile: EquinePatient
Base: Patient
Canonical URL: https://eqds.org/StructureDefinition/equine-patient

The Equine Patient profile extends the base FHIR Patient resource to include equine-specific information using the standard patient-animal extension.

Download: equine-patient.json

Required Elements

Element Cardinality Type Description
identifier 1..* Identifier Registration number, microchip, or clinic MRN
name 1..* HumanName Registered name (use text) and barn name (use given)
extension:animal 1..1 Extension Standard FHIR patient-animal extension
extension:animal.species 1..1 CodeableConcept Fixed to Horse (SNOMED: 35354009)
extension:animal.breed 1..1 CodeableConcept Breed code (binding: EquineBreedValueSet)
extension:animal.genderStatus 1..1 CodeableConcept Equine sex (binding: EquineSexValueSet)
extension:color 0..1 Extension Color/marking (optional - not all records include)
extension:ownership 0..* Extension Ownership structure
birthDate 0..1 date Foaling date

Naming Convention:

  • name.text: Full registered name
  • name.given[0]: Barn name or call name
  • name.use: “official” for registered, “nickname” for barn name

Profiles - Core Resources

Extensions

Extensions - Equine-Specific Data

The Ownership Extension supports fractional ownership with validation that ownership percentages should sum to 100% (±0.01% tolerance).

Terminologies

Code Systems - Terminologies

All code systems use the eqds.org domain as the canonical URL:

Value Sets

Value Sets

Security Considerations

Access Control

Implementation SHALL use OAuth 2.0 with SMART-on-FHIR for authentication and authorization.

Scopes and Roles

Role Typical Scopes Use Case
Owner patient/*.read patient/*.write Owner portal for their horses
Trainer patient/Observation.read patient/Procedure.read Training barn with multiple horses
Veterinary system/*.read system/*.write Clinic managing many patients
Competition Officials patient/Observation.read Event-wide fitness checks
Public patient/Patient.read Public horse registry lookup

Consent Management

Explicit consent required for:

  • Sharing records between practices
  • Competition drug testing results
  • Breeding records
  • Insurance claims

Exchange Rules

RESTful API

Search Parameters

Search Parameters

Example searches:

GET [base]/Patient?breed=QH&owner=RelatedPerson/123
GET [base]/Patient?microchip=985141405208421
GET [base]/Observation?subject=Patient/horse-123&category=training

Batch Operations

Support for bulk operations for common workflows:

  • Import entire barn roster
  • Submit competition entries for multiple horses
  • Update vaccination records for all horses at a facility

Document Exchange

The specification supports document-based exchange using FHIR Bundle resources for health certificates, competition records, and comprehensive medical records.

Examples

Examples - Implementation Samples

Implementation Guidance

Best Practices

Implementation Recommendations

  • Patient Identity - Always include microchip identifier when available for reliable matching
  • Ownership Tracking - Use the ownership extension to maintain current and historical ownership records
  • Competition Data - Link competition observations to specific events and organizations
  • Medication Tracking - Always include withdrawal times for competition-relevant medications
  • Training Records - Use consistent observation categories and coding for training metrics

Data Quality Guidelines

Data Quality Requirements

  • Identifiers - Validate registration numbers against breed registry formats
  • Dates - Use precise dates for vaccinations, procedures, and competition events
  • Terminologies - Prefer coded values over free text where value sets exist
  • References - Maintain referential integrity between related resources

Appendices

A. Canonical URLs Reference

StructureDefinitions

Base URL: https://eqds.org

  • /StructureDefinition/equine-patient
  • /StructureDefinition/equine-observation
  • /StructureDefinition/equine-medication-administration
  • /StructureDefinition/equine-immunization

Extensions

Base URL: https://eqds.org

  • /StructureDefinition/ownership
  • /StructureDefinition/breeding-info
  • /StructureDefinition/equine-color
  • /StructureDefinition/withdrawal-time

CodeSystems

Base URL: https://eqds.org

  • /CodeSystem/equine-sex
  • /CodeSystem/breed-codes
  • /CodeSystem/color-codes
  • /CodeSystem/discipline-codes
  • /CodeSystem/competition-orgs

B. Validation Requirements

Validation Requirements

All resources and examples in this specification MUST pass validation against:

  • HL7 FHIR R5 base specification
  • Profile constraints defined in this IG
  • Terminology bindings
  • Business rule invariants (e.g., ownership percentages)

C. Change Log

Version Date Description
1.0.0 2025-08-27 Initial release
1.0.1 2025-08-28 Updated for eqds.org domain, improved GitHub Pages structure
1.0.2 2025-08-31 Expanded example page published for readability by AI coding systems. Added introduction content to index page and moved all examples to specification page.

D. Contributors

  • Andy Baird - Founder and Lead Developer

License

This Implementation Guide is published under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, allowing unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction.

Contact

For questions, feedback, or contributions:

  • Email: equinedatastandard@gmail.com
  • Website: https://eqds.org
  • GitHub: https://github.com/EQDS

This specification is a living document and will be updated based on implementation experience and community feedback.