PatientRelationshipType

Reference data entity for relationship types between persons. Categorizes relationships as family, legal, social, or professional for emergency contacts, healthcare proxies, and insurance subscribers.

Overview

PatientRelationshipType defines the nature of relationships between patients and their contacts or insurance subscribers. This information is essential for determining who can make medical decisions, who should be notified in emergencies, and how insurance coverage applies. Relationships are categorized to support different healthcare workflows and legal requirements.

Key Concepts

Relationship Categories

Relationships are grouped by their nature:

Category	Purpose	Examples
Family	Blood or marriage relations	Spouse, parent, child, sibling
Legal	Legally designated authority	Guardian, power of attorney
Social	Personal connections	Friend, neighbor, emergency contact
Professional	Work-related	Employer, caregiver
Other	Uncategorized	Custom relationships

Standard Relationship Types

Family Relationships

SPOUSE - Married partner (automatic decision-making rights in many jurisdictions)
PARENT - Biological or adoptive parent (decision rights for minors)
CHILD - Biological or adoptive child
SIBLING - Brother or sister

Legal Relationships

GUARDIAN - Legal guardian with custody (full decision-making authority)
POWER_OF_ATTORNEY - Designated legal authority for decisions

Social Relationships

EMERGENCY_CONTACT - Designated for emergency notification
FRIEND - Close friend or companion

Professional Relationships

EMPLOYER - Current employer (workers' comp, occupational health)

Decision-Making Authority

Relationship type affects authorization levels:

Relationship	Medical Decisions	Financial Access	Emergency Notification
Spouse	Often automatic	Varies by policy	Yes
Parent (of minor)	Yes	Yes	Yes
Guardian	Yes	Yes	Yes
Power of Attorney	If healthcare POA	If financial POA	Yes
Emergency Contact	No (unless designated)	No	Yes

Insurance Context

Used in PatientCoverage to define subscriber relationships:

Self - Patient is the policy holder
Spouse - Patient covered through spouse's policy
Child - Patient covered as dependent child
Other dependent - Other covered relationship

Use Cases

Emergency Contact Setup

When designating emergency contacts:

Capture contact person details
Select relationship type from reference
Set notification and authorization flags
Order contacts by priority

Healthcare Proxy Identification

When patient cannot make decisions:

Check for legal relationships (guardian, POA)
If none, check family relationships (spouse, parent)
Verify documentation for legal relationships
Document decision-maker and relationship

Pediatric Patient Management

For minor patients:

Require at least one PARENT or GUARDIAN contact
Verify custodial status if parents separated
Enable decision-making for appropriate relationships
Document any custody restrictions

Insurance Subscriber Verification

When verifying coverage:

Identify subscriber if different from patient
Select subscriber relationship type
Verify relationship matches insurance records
Update if family status changes

Next of Kin Notification

In critical situations:

Prioritize family relationships for notification
Consider legal relationships for decision-making
Fall back to social relationships if no family
Document notification attempts and outcomes

Related Entities

Entity	Relationship	Description
PatientContact	Referenced by	Contact records that specify relationship type
PatientCoverage	Referenced by	Insurance coverage subscriber relationships

Enums

Value	Description
`family`	Blood relatives and relations by marriage
`legal`	Legally designated relationships with formal authority
`social`	Personal and community relationships
`professional`	Work and caregiving relationships
`other`	Relationships not fitting other categories

Standard Values

Code	Label	Category	Description
`SPOUSE`	Spouse	family	Married partner
`PARENT`	Parent	family	Biological or adoptive parent
`CHILD`	Child	family	Biological or adoptive child
`SIBLING`	Sibling	family	Brother or sister
`GUARDIAN`	Guardian	legal	Legal guardian with custody
`POWER_OF_ATTORNEY`	Power of Attorney	legal	Legal authority to make decisions
`EMERGENCY_CONTACT`	Emergency Contact	social	Designated emergency contact
`FRIEND`	Friend	social	Close friend or companion
`EMPLOYER`	Employer	professional	Current employer
`OTHER`	Other	other	Other relationship type

4 properties

Schema

Properties

Property	Type	Mode	Description	Required
code	string	stored	Unique code identifying the relationship type Example: `"SPOUSE"`	Required
label	string	stored	Human-readable name of the relationship Example: `"Spouse"`	Required
category	string	stored	Category of relationship Values: `family, legal, social, professional, other` Example: `"family"`	Required
description	string	stored	Additional details about the relationship type	Optional

Examples

Example 1

{
  "@type": "PatientRelationshipType",
  "code": "SPOUSE",
  "label": "Spouse",
  "category": "family",
  "description": "Married partner"
}

Example 2

{
  "@type": "PatientRelationshipType",
  "code": "PARENT",
  "label": "Parent",
  "category": "family",
  "description": "Biological or adoptive parent"
}

Example 3

{
  "@type": "PatientRelationshipType",
  "code": "CHILD",
  "label": "Child",
  "category": "family",
  "description": "Biological or adoptive child"
}

Example 4

{
  "@type": "PatientRelationshipType",
  "code": "SIBLING",
  "label": "Sibling",
  "category": "family",
  "description": "Brother or sister"
}

Example 5

{
  "@type": "PatientRelationshipType",
  "code": "GUARDIAN",
  "label": "Guardian",
  "category": "legal",
  "description": "Legal guardian with custody"
}

Example 6

{
  "@type": "PatientRelationshipType",
  "code": "POWER_OF_ATTORNEY",
  "label": "Power of Attorney",
  "category": "legal",
  "description": "Legal authority to make decisions"
}

Example 7

{
  "@type": "PatientRelationshipType",
  "code": "EMERGENCY_CONTACT",
  "label": "Emergency Contact",
  "category": "social",
  "description": "Designated emergency contact"
}

Example 8

{
  "@type": "PatientRelationshipType",
  "code": "FRIEND",
  "label": "Friend",
  "category": "social",
  "description": "Close friend or companion"
}

Example 9

{
  "@type": "PatientRelationshipType",
  "code": "EMPLOYER",
  "label": "Employer",
  "category": "professional",
  "description": "Current employer"
}

Example 10

{
  "@type": "PatientRelationshipType",
  "code": "OTHER",
  "label": "Other",
  "category": "other",
  "description": "Other relationship type"
}