Designation:E2436−05(Reapproved2010)AnAmericanNationalStandardStandardSpecificationfortheRepresentationofHumanCharacteristicsDatainHealthcareInformationSystems1ThisstandardisissuedunderthefixeddesignationE2436;thenumberimmediatelyfollowingthedesignationindicatestheyearoforiginaladoptionor,inthecaseofrevision,theyearoflastrevision.Anumberinparenthesesindicatestheyearoflastreapproval.Asuperscriptepsilon(´)indicatesaneditorialchangesincethelastrevisionorreapproval.INTRODUCTIONThisdocumentpresentsastandardizedrepresentationforthecontentandstructureofhumancharacteristicsdataforuseinelectronichealthrecordsandhealthcareinformationsystemsgenerally.Manyofthedataavailabletoclinicians,healthresearchersandeducators,andhealthcareplannerscannotbeeasilycomparedduetothevarietyinrepresentinghumancharacteristics.Thisdocumentstandardizestherepresentationofthesecharacteristicsatthedatatierofhealthinformationsystems.1.Scope1.1Thisdocumentpresentsastandardizedrepresentationforthecontentandstructureofhumancharacteristicsdataforuseinhealthcareinformationsystems.1.2Thisspecificationmaybeextendedtoapplytocharac-teristicsofnon-humanlivingthings,suchasindatasystemssupportingveterinarymedicine.1.3Thefollowingprovisionsarewithinthescopeofthisspecification:1.3.1Logicalrepresentationofhumancharacteristicsdataforindividualsandpopulations.1.3.2Physicalrepresentationofhumancharacteristicsatthedatatierofhealthcareinformationsystems.1.4Thefollowingprovisionsareoutsidethescopeofthisspecification:1.4.1Thestandardizationofpolicyorregulationconcerningtheemploymentofhumancharacteristicsdatadescribedinthisspecification.1.4.2Theestablishmentorstandardizationoflegalcon-straintsovertheuseofhumancharacteristicsinconjunctionwithhealthcareclinicalorbusinessprocesses.1.4.3Addressingorstandardizingpersonalprivacy,medi-colegal,andsystemsecurityprovisionsassociatedwithdocu-mentinghumancharacteristicsorstoringhumancharacteristicsdata.1.5Thisstandarddoesnotpurporttoaddressallofthesafetyconcerns,ifany,associatedwith...
