> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.metriport.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# communication

An occurrence of information being transmitted; e.g. an alert that was sent to a responsible provider, a public health agency that was notified about a reportable condition. See the [HL7 FHIR R4 spec](https://hl7.org/fhir/R4/communication.html) for full details.

**Tables in this resource:**

* **communication** – Communication record (this page)
* [communication\_category](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/communication/category) – Backbone for category
* [communication\_category\_coding](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/communication/category_coding)
* [communication\_extension](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/communication/extension)
* [communication\_extension\_vcc\_coding](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/communication/extension_vcc_coding)
* **communication\_references** – Normalized references; see [Reference Tables](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/reference_tables)

**Primary Keys:**

* communication\_id

**Foreign Keys:**

* patient\_id – links to the [patient](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/patient/base) table (subject)

<div style={{textAlign: 'right'}}><sub>† Metriport Platform added</sub></div>

| Column             | Data Type | Description                                                         |
| ------------------ | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| communication\_id  | varchar   | Unique identifier for the communication                             |
| patient\_id        | varchar   | Unique identifier for the patient                                   |
| status             | varchar   | Status of the communication                                         |
| sent               | datetime  | When the communication was sent (FHIR `Communication.sent`)         |
| received           | datetime  | When the communication was received (FHIR `Communication.received`) |
| meta\_source       | varchar   | Source document filename from FHIR meta.source                      |
| data\_source\_ext† | varchar   | Integration source of the data, derived from FHIR extension         |

**Related Tables:**

**Parent:**

* [patient](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/patient/base)

**Child:**

* [communication\_category](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/communication/category)
* [communication\_extension](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/communication/extension)