FacilityDepartment

A department or unit within a healthcare facility. Organizes clinical and administrative areas with location, contact information, and operational status.

Overview

FacilityDepartment represents organizational units within a Facility - cardiology departments, emergency departments, laboratories, pharmacies, and administrative offices. Each department has a type (from HealthReferenceDepartmentType), physical location within the facility, contact information, and operational status. Practitioners are assigned to departments through PractitionerFacilityAffiliation.

Key Concepts

Department Structure

Each department record contains:

Field	Purpose	Example
`facility`	Parent facility	City General Hospital
`type`	Department category	Cardiology (medical)
`name`	Department name	Cardiology Unit A
`location`	Physical location	Building A, Floor 3
`contactPoint`	Phone/email	+1-555-0300
`status`	Operational state	active

Department Types

Departments are classified via HealthReferenceDepartmentType:

Category	Examples
Medical	Cardiology, Neurology, Pediatrics, ICU
Surgical	General Surgery, Orthopedics
Diagnostic	Laboratory, Radiology, Pathology
Emergency	Emergency Department, Trauma
Administrative	Admissions, Billing, Medical Records
Support	Pharmacy, Nutrition, Physical Therapy

Multiple Departments

A facility may have multiple departments of the same type:

Cardiology Unit A, Cardiology Unit B
ICU, Cardiac ICU, Neuro ICU
Emergency Department, Pediatric Emergency

Location Information

The location field describes where to find the department:

Building identifier
Floor number
Wing or section
Room numbers

Department Contact

Each department can have its own contact point:

Direct phone line
Department email
Extension numbers

Use Cases

Patient Wayfinding

When directing patients:

Look up department by name or type
Display physical location
Provide contact information
Show operating hours if applicable

Staff Assignment

When assigning practitioners:

Create affiliation linking practitioner to department
Specify role at department
Track primary vs secondary assignments
Support cross-department coverage

Encounter Documentation

When recording patient visits:

Link encounter to admitting department
Track department transfers
Document department-specific care
Route to appropriate staff

Department Management

For operational oversight:

Track active departments
Monitor department status changes
Manage department contact info
Coordinate across departments

Resource Planning

For capacity management:

Track resources by department
Monitor department utilization
Plan staffing by department
Allocate equipment and space

Related Entities

Entity	Relationship	Description
Facility	Belongs to	Parent healthcare facility
HealthReferenceDepartmentType	References	Type classification of the department
ContactPoint	Contains	Department contact information
PractitionerFacilityAffiliation	Referenced by	Practitioners assigned to this department
Encounter	Referenced by	Patient encounters in this department

Enums

status

Value	Description
`active`	Department is operational and providing services
`inactive`	Department is temporarily not operational
`suspended`	Department operations suspended

6 properties

Schema

Properties

Property	Type	Mode	Description	Required
facility	Facility	stored	Facility this department belongs to	Required
type	HealthReferenceDepartmentType	stored	Type of department	Required
name	string	stored	Name of the department Example: `"Cardiology Unit A"`	Required
location	string	stored	Physical location within the facility Example: `"Building A, Floor 3"`	Optional
contactPoint	ContactPoint	stored	Contact information for the department	Optional
status	string	stored	Operational status of the department Values: `active, inactive, suspended` Example: `"active"`	Required

Examples

Example 1

{
  "@type": "FacilityDepartment",
  "facility": {
    "@type": "Facility",
    "name": "City General Hospital"
  },
  "type": {
    "@type": "HealthReferenceDepartmentType",
    "code": "CARDIO",
    "label": "Cardiology",
    "category": "medical"
  },
  "name": "Cardiology Department",
  "location": "Building A, Floor 3",
  "contactPoint": {
    "@type": "ContactPoint",
    "system": "phone",
    "value": "+1-555-0300",
    "use": "work"
  },
  "status": "active"
}

Example 2

{
  "@type": "FacilityDepartment",
  "facility": {
    "@type": "Facility",
    "name": "City General Hospital"
  },
  "type": {
    "@type": "HealthReferenceDepartmentType",
    "code": "ER",
    "label": "Emergency",
    "category": "emergency"
  },
  "name": "Emergency Department",
  "location": "Building B, Ground Floor",
  "status": "active"
}

Example 3

{
  "@type": "FacilityDepartment",
  "facility": {
    "@type": "Facility",
    "name": "Children's Medical Center"
  },
  "type": {
    "@type": "HealthReferenceDepartmentType",
    "code": "PEDS",
    "label": "Pediatrics",
    "category": "medical"
  },
  "name": "Pediatric Ward",
  "location": "Main Building, Floor 2",
  "status": "active"
}