EncounterParticipant

A practitioner or other individual who participated in a healthcare encounter, tracking their role, responsibilities, and time period of involvement. Essential for care attribution, billing accuracy, and proper clinical handoffs between healthcare professionals.

Overview

EncounterParticipant documents everyone involved in a patient's care during an encounter. From the primary attending physician to consulting specialists, nurses, interpreters, and support staff - each participant is recorded with their role, specialty, and time of involvement. This supports provider attribution for billing, care team coordination, quality metrics, and legal documentation.

Key Concepts

Participant Types

The type field defines the role in the encounter:

Type	Description	Billing Impact
`primary`	Main responsible provider	Primary billing
`secondary`	Supporting provider	May bill separately
`admitter`	Provider who admitted patient	Admission attribution
`attender`	Provider attending to patient	Rounding documentation
`consultant`	Specialist providing consult	Consult billing
`referrer`	Provider who referred patient	Referral tracking
`participant`	General participant	Team documentation
`translator`	Language interpreter	Support services
`emergency-contact`	Emergency contact person	Not a provider

Primary Provider

The isPrimary flag identifies the responsible provider:

One participant should be marked as primary
Primary provider owns the care plan
Accountable for clinical decisions
First contact for questions

Clinical Role

The role field links to HealthReferencePractitionerRole:

Attending Physician
Consulting Specialist
Resident Physician
Nurse Practitioner
Registered Nurse
Medical Interpreter

Specialty Context

The specialty field captures the clinical specialty:

May differ from practitioner's primary specialty
Relevant when consulting outside usual scope
Important for quality metrics by specialty
Links to HealthReferencePractitionerSpecialty

Time Period

The period field tracks involvement duration:

When the provider became involved
When they completed their participation
Supports shift-based documentation
Enables time-based billing

Use Cases

Assigning Primary Provider

At encounter start:

Create EncounterParticipant for attending
Set type: "primary" and isPrimary: true
Record role (Attending Physician)
Set specialty based on care context
Begin period at encounter start

Requesting Consultation

When specialist input needed:

Create EncounterParticipant for consultant
Set type: "consultant"
Record consulting specialty
Note the consultation question
Track consultation period

Shift Handoff

During care transition:

End period for departing provider
Create new participant for incoming provider
Document handoff in notes
Update primary if responsibility transfers
Ensure coverage continuity

Interpreter Services

When language support needed:

Create participant with type: "translator"
Note languages involved
Track time of interpretation
Associate with clinical encounters requiring translation
Support language access compliance

Care Team Review

For team documentation:

Query all participants for encounter
Display care team roster
Show roles and specialties
Identify primary responsible provider
Enable team communication

Related Entities

Entity	Relationship	Description
Encounter	Belongs to	Parent encounter
Practitioner	References	Participating provider
HealthReferencePractitionerRole	References	Role in encounter
HealthReferencePractitionerSpecialty	References	Specialty for this encounter
Period	Contains	Time of involvement

Calculated Fields

Field	Type	Description
`isActive`	boolean	True when period includes current time

Enums

type

Value	Description
`primary`	Main provider responsible for the encounter
`secondary`	Additional provider supporting the primary
`admitter`	Provider who admitted the patient to facility
`attender`	Provider currently attending to patient
`consultant`	Specialist providing expert consultation
`referrer`	Provider who referred patient for this encounter
`participant`	General participant in the care team
`translator`	Language interpreter facilitating communication
`emergency-contact`	Emergency contact person (non-provider)

9 properties

Schema

Properties

Property	Type	Mode	Description	Required
encounter	Encounter	stored	Reference to the healthcare encounter this participation relates to	Required
individual	Practitioner	stored	The healthcare practitioner who participated in the encounter	Required
type	string	stored	Role or function of the participant in the encounter, indicating their level of involvement and responsibility Values: `primary, secondary, admitter, attender, consultant, referrer, participant, translator, emergency-contact` Example: `"primary"`	Required
period	Period	stored	Time period during which the participant was actively involved in the encounter	Optional
isPrimary	boolean	stored	Whether this participant is the primary/responsible provider for the encounter Example: `true`	Optional
role	HealthReferencePractitionerRole	stored	Specific clinical or administrative role the participant performed during the encounter	Optional
specialty	HealthReferencePractitionerSpecialty	stored	Medical specialty under which the participant provided care during this encounter	Optional
notes	string	stored	Additional notes about the participant's involvement, special circumstances, or handoff details Example: `"Consulted for second opinion on treatment plan"`	Optional
isActive	boolean	calculated	Whether this participant is currently actively participating in the encounter (period includes current date/time)	Optional

Examples

Example 1

{
  "@type": "EncounterParticipant",
  "encounter": {
    "@type": "Encounter",
    "status": "in-progress"
  },
  "individual": {
    "@type": "Practitioner",
    "givenName": "Michael",
    "familyName": "Chen",
    "specialties": [
      {
        "@type": "HealthReferencePractitionerSpecialty",
        "code": "CARDIO",
        "label": "Cardiology",
        "category": "medical"
      }
    ]
  },
  "type": "primary",
  "period": {
    "@type": "Period",
    "start": "2024-11-30T09:00:00Z",
    "end": "2024-11-30T10:30:00Z"
  },
  "isPrimary": true,
  "role": {
    "@type": "HealthReferencePractitionerRole",
    "code": "ATTENDING",
    "label": "Attending Physician",
    "category": "physician"
  },
  "specialty": {
    "@type": "HealthReferencePractitionerSpecialty",
    "code": "CARDIO",
    "label": "Cardiology",
    "category": "medical"
  },
  "notes": "Primary attending physician for routine cardiology follow-up"
}

Example 2

{
  "@type": "EncounterParticipant",
  "encounter": {
    "@type": "Encounter",
    "status": "finished"
  },
  "individual": {
    "@type": "Practitioner",
    "givenName": "Emily",
    "familyName": "Rodriguez",
    "specialties": [
      {
        "@type": "HealthReferencePractitionerSpecialty",
        "code": "NEURO",
        "label": "Neurology",
        "category": "medical"
      }
    ]
  },
  "type": "consultant",
  "period": {
    "@type": "Period",
    "start": "2024-11-28T14:00:00Z",
    "end": "2024-11-28T14:45:00Z"
  },
  "isPrimary": false,
  "role": {
    "@type": "HealthReferencePractitionerRole",
    "code": "CONSULTANT",
    "label": "Consulting Specialist",
    "category": "physician"
  },
  "specialty": {
    "@type": "HealthReferencePractitionerSpecialty",
    "code": "NEURO",
    "label": "Neurology",
    "category": "medical"
  },
  "notes": "Consulted for neurological assessment of patient with headaches"
}

Example 3

{
  "@type": "EncounterParticipant",
  "encounter": {
    "@type": "Encounter",
    "status": "finished"
  },
  "individual": {
    "@type": "Practitioner",
    "givenName": "Maria",
    "familyName": "Santos"
  },
  "type": "translator",
  "period": {
    "@type": "Period",
    "start": "2024-11-25T10:00:00Z",
    "end": "2024-11-25T11:00:00Z"
  },
  "isPrimary": false,
  "role": {
    "@type": "HealthReferencePractitionerRole",
    "code": "INTERPRETER",
    "label": "Medical Interpreter",
    "category": "support"
  },
  "notes": "Provided Spanish-English translation services for patient communication"
}