Requirements
A structured list of functional or non-functional requirements for a FHIR project: IG conformance, integration scope.
Purpose
Requirements formalises the requirements of a FHIR integration or implementation project in a structured, testable form. Each requirement carries a description, importance (must-have, nice-to-have), a reference text, and may be satisfied by a Conformance element (CapabilityStatement, StructureDefinition, OperationDefinition). It is the FHIR layer of documentary traceability between business needs and technical implementation.
Key elements
| Field | Type | Cardinality | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
url | uri | 0..1 | Canonical URL. |
identifier | Identifier[] | 0..* | External identifiers. |
version | string | 0..1 | Version. |
name | string | 0..1 | Technical name. |
title | string | 0..1 | Human-readable title. |
status | code | 1..1 | `draft`, `active`, `retired`, `unknown`. |
experimental | boolean | 0..1 | Experimental. |
date | dateTime | 0..1 | Date. |
publisher | string | 0..1 | Publisher. |
description | markdown | 0..1 | Description. |
purpose | markdown | 0..1 | Purpose. |
actor | canonical(ActorDefinition)[] | 0..* | Concerned actors. |
statement | BackboneElement[] | 0..* | List of individual statements. |
JSON example
{
"resourceType": "Requirements",
"id": "example-requirements-onc",
"url": "https://example.org/fhir/Requirements/onc-2026",
"version": "1.0.0",
"name": "OncRequirements2026",
"title": "Exigences ONC 2026 — Patient & Encounter",
"status": "active",
"date": "2026-05-15",
"publisher": "HL7 US Realm",
"description": "Exigences obligatoires pour les EHR ONC-certifiés en 2026.",
"statement": [{
"key": "REQ-001",
"label": "Patient.identifier MR obligatoire",
"conformance": ["SHALL"],
"requirement": "Tout EHR doit exposer Patient.identifier de type MR pour chaque patient stocké."
}, {
"key": "REQ-002",
"label": "Encounter.status à jour",
"conformance": ["SHALL"],
"requirement": "Encounter.status doit être synchronisé en temps réel avec le statut administratif."
}]
}Common pitfalls
- Requirements confused with ImplementationGuide: Requirements lists requirements; ImplementationGuide implements them.
- Conformance levels not aligned with RFC 2119 (SHALL, SHOULD, MAY): ambiguous for validators.
- No date or version: review tracking impossible.
Related resources
- implementationguide — implementation guide.
- capabilitystatement — server capabilities.
- structuredefinition — profiles.
- operationdefinition — operations.