HealthReferencePractitionerSpecialty

Reference data entity for medical specialties and clinical practice areas. Defines the field of medicine in which a practitioner has advanced training and expertise.

Overview

HealthReferencePractitionerSpecialty catalogs medical specialties that practitioners may hold. While HealthReferencePractitionerRole defines the job function (physician, nurse), this entity defines the clinical domain of expertise (cardiology, orthopedics). Specialties are categorized by their nature: medical, surgical, diagnostic, therapeutic, or primary care.

Key Concepts

Specialty vs Role

Understanding the distinction:

Concept	Entity	Question Answered
Role	PractitionerRole	What type of job? (Physician, Nurse)
Specialty	PractitionerSpecialty	What clinical area? (Cardiology, Pediatrics)

A physician (role) may specialize in cardiology (specialty).

Specialty Categories

Specialties are grouped by their clinical focus:

Category	Focus	Example Specialties
`medical`	Non-surgical diagnosis and treatment	Cardiology, Neurology, Oncology
`surgical`	Operative procedures	Orthopedics, Neurosurgery, Cardiac Surgery
`diagnostic`	Testing and interpretation	Radiology, Pathology
`therapeutic`	Supportive treatments	Anesthesiology, Physical Medicine
`primary-care`	General/first-line care	General Practice, Pediatrics, Family Medicine

Standard Specialties

Medical Specialties

CARDIO - Cardiology (heart and cardiovascular)
NEURO - Neurology (nervous system)
ONCO - Oncology (cancer)
DERM - Dermatology (skin)
PSYCH - Psychiatry (mental health)

Surgical Specialties

ORTHO - Orthopedics (musculoskeletal)
General Surgery, Neurosurgery, Cardiothoracic Surgery

Diagnostic Specialties

RADIO - Radiology (medical imaging)
Pathology, Laboratory Medicine

Therapeutic Specialties

ANESTH - Anesthesiology (anesthesia and pain)
Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation

Primary Care

GP - General Practice
PEDS - Pediatrics (children)
Family Medicine, Internal Medicine

Specialty Identification

Each specialty record contains:

code - Unique specialty code (e.g., "CARDIO", "ORTHO")
label - Human-readable name
category - Clinical focus area
description - Scope of practice

Use Cases

Referral Routing

When referring patients:

Identify clinical need requiring specialist
Search for practitioners with matching specialty
Consider subspecialties for specific conditions
Route referral to appropriate specialist
Track referral outcomes by specialty

Provider Directory

For patient-facing search:

Allow filtering providers by specialty
Display specialty with provider listings
Show specialty-specific services
Enable "find a cardiologist" queries

Credentialing

When verifying specialist credentials:

Check board certification in specialty
Verify fellowship training
Confirm specialty-specific privileges
Track continuing education by specialty

Quality Reporting

For specialty-specific metrics:

Aggregate outcomes by specialty
Compare to specialty benchmarks
Track specialty-specific measures
Report to specialty boards

Resource Planning

For capacity management:

Track specialist availability
Identify specialty coverage gaps
Plan specialist recruitment
Balance specialist workloads

Related Entities

Entity	Relationship	Description
Practitioner	Referenced by	Practitioners with this specialty
HealthReferencePractitionerRole	Complements	Professional role (separate from specialty)
HealthReferenceDepartmentType	Related	Departments often align with specialties

Enums

Value	Description
`medical`	Non-surgical specialties focused on diagnosis and medical treatment
`surgical`	Specialties focused on operative and interventional procedures
`diagnostic`	Specialties focused on testing, imaging, and interpretation
`therapeutic`	Specialties focused on supportive and rehabilitative treatments
`primary-care`	General and first-contact care specialties
`other`	Specialties not fitting other categories

Properties

Property	Type	Mode	Description	Required
code	string	stored	Unique code identifying the specialty Example: `"CARDIO"`	Required
label	string	stored	Human-readable name of the specialty Example: `"Cardiology"`	Required
category	string	stored	Category of specialty Values: `medical, surgical, diagnostic, therapeutic, primary-care, other` Example: `"medical"`	Required
description	string	stored	Additional details about the specialty	Optional

Examples

Example 1

{
  "@type": "HealthReferencePractitionerSpecialty",
  "code": "CARDIO",
  "label": "Cardiology",
  "category": "medical",
  "description": "Diagnosis and treatment of heart and cardiovascular conditions"
}

Example 2

{
  "@type": "HealthReferencePractitionerSpecialty",
  "code": "PEDS",
  "label": "Pediatrics",
  "category": "primary-care",
  "description": "Medical care for infants, children, and adolescents"
}

Example 3

{
  "@type": "HealthReferencePractitionerSpecialty",
  "code": "ORTHO",
  "label": "Orthopedics",
  "category": "surgical",
  "description": "Musculoskeletal system conditions and surgery"
}

Example 4

{
  "@type": "HealthReferencePractitionerSpecialty",
  "code": "NEURO",
  "label": "Neurology",
  "category": "medical",
  "description": "Disorders of the nervous system"
}

Example 5

{
  "@type": "HealthReferencePractitionerSpecialty",
  "code": "DERM",
  "label": "Dermatology",
  "category": "medical",
  "description": "Skin, hair, and nail conditions"
}

Example 6

{
  "@type": "HealthReferencePractitionerSpecialty",
  "code": "RADIO",
  "label": "Radiology",
  "category": "diagnostic",
  "description": "Medical imaging and interpretation"
}

Example 7

{
  "@type": "HealthReferencePractitionerSpecialty",
  "code": "ANESTH",
  "label": "Anesthesiology",
  "category": "therapeutic",
  "description": "Anesthesia and perioperative care"
}

Example 8

{
  "@type": "HealthReferencePractitionerSpecialty",
  "code": "GP",
  "label": "General Practice",
  "category": "primary-care",
  "description": "Primary healthcare and general medical care"
}

Example 9

{
  "@type": "HealthReferencePractitionerSpecialty",
  "code": "PSYCH",
  "label": "Psychiatry",
  "category": "medical",
  "description": "Mental health disorders diagnosis and treatment"
}

Example 10

{
  "@type": "HealthReferencePractitionerSpecialty",
  "code": "ONCO",
  "label": "Oncology",
  "category": "medical",
  "description": "Cancer diagnosis and treatment"
}