> ## 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.

# encounter

An interaction between a patient and healthcare provider(s) for the purpose of providing healthcare service(s) or assessing the health status of a patient. See the [HL7 FHIR R4 spec](https://hl7.org/fhir/R4/encounter.html) for full details.

**Previous version:** [encounter](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v000/encounter)

**Tables in this resource:**

* **encounter** – Main encounter record (this page)
* [encounter\_diagnosis](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/diagnosis) – Diagnoses (condition ref) per encounter
* [encounter\_type](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/type) – Backbone for encounter type
* [encounter\_type\_coding](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/type_coding)
* [encounter\_reasoncode](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/reasoncode) – Backbone for reason code
* [encounter\_reasoncode\_coding](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/reasoncode_coding)
* [encounter\_priority\_coding](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/priority_coding)
* [encounter\_hospitalization\_dischargedisposition\_coding](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/hospitalization_dischargedisposition_coding)
* [encounter\_extension](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/extension)
* [encounter\_extension\_vcc\_coding](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/extension_vcc_coding)
* **encounter\_references** – All refs; see [Reference Tables](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/reference_tables)

**Reference table:** `encounter_references` holds the following reference properties: **subject** (→ patient), **location.location** (→ location), **participant.individual** (→ practitioner), **diagnosis.condition** (from `encounter_diagnosis` stage table, → condition). See [Reference Tables](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/reference_tables).

**Primary Keys:**

* encounter\_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                                                   |
| ---------------------------------------------------- | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- |
| encounter\_id                                        | varchar   | Unique identifier for the encounter                           |
| patient\_id                                          | varchar   | Unique identifier for the patient (subject)                   |
| status                                               | varchar   | Status of the encounter (e.g. planned, in-progress, finished) |
| period\_start                                        | datetime  | Start date/time of the encounter                              |
| period\_end                                          | datetime  | End date/time of the encounter                                |
| length\_of\_stay†                                    | integer   | Length of stay in days                                        |
| act\_code†                                           | varchar   | ACT code for encounter class when system is v3-ActCode        |
| act\_display†                                        | varchar   | Human-readable description of ACT code                        |
| class\_code                                          | varchar   | Encounter class code from source system                       |
| class\_display                                       | varchar   | Encounter class display from source system                    |
| class\_system                                        | varchar   | Encounter class system from source system                     |
| hospitalization\_dischargedisposition\_text          | varchar   | Free-text discharge disposition                               |
| hospitalization\_dischargedisposition\_hl7\_code†    | varchar   | HL7 discharge disposition code (discharge-disposition)        |
| hospitalization\_dischargedisposition\_hl7\_display† | varchar   | Human-readable discharge disposition                          |
| reasoncode\_snomed\_code†                            | varchar   | SNOMED CT code for reason for encounter                       |
| reasoncode\_snomed\_display†                         | varchar   | Human-readable SNOMED CT reason for encounter                 |
| priority\_text                                       | varchar   | Free-text priority of the encounter                           |
| 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:**

* [encounter\_diagnosis](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/diagnosis)
* [encounter\_extension](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/extension)
* [encounter\_hospitalization\_dischargedisposition\_coding](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/hospitalization_dischargedisposition_coding)
* [encounter\_priority\_coding](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/priority_coding)
* [encounter\_reasoncode](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/reasoncode)
* [encounter\_type](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/type)

## Version diff

**Renamed**

* `start_date` → `period_start`
* `end_date` → `period_end`
* `source_class_code` → `class_code`
* `source_class_display` → `class_display`
* `source_class_system` → `class_system`
* `discharge_disposition_hl7_code` → `hospitalization_dischargedisposition_hl7_code`
* `discharge_disposition_hl7_display` → `hospitalization_dischargedisposition_hl7_display`
* `reason_snomed_code` → `reasoncode_snomed_code`
* `reason_snomed_display` → `reasoncode_snomed_display`
* `data_source` → `meta_source`

**Moved to separate tables**

* `type_hl7_code` → [`encounter_type_coding.code`](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/type_coding) w/ `system = 'http://terminology.hl7.org/CodeSystem/encounter-type'`
* `type_hl7_display` → [`encounter_type_coding.display`](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/type_coding) w/ `system = 'http://terminology.hl7.org/CodeSystem/encounter-type'`
* `source_type_code` → [`encounter_type_coding.code`](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/type_coding) w/ `code_rank = 1`
* `source_type_display` → [`encounter_type_coding.display`](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/type_coding) w/ `code_rank = 1`
* `source_type_system` → [`encounter_type_coding.system`](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/type_coding) w/ `code_rank = 1`
* `source_discharge_disposition_code` → [`encounter_hospitalization_dischargedisposition_coding.code`](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/hospitalization_dischargedisposition_coding) w/ `code_rank = 1`
* `source_discharge_disposition_display` → [`encounter_hospitalization_dischargedisposition_coding.display`](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/hospitalization_dischargedisposition_coding) w/ `code_rank = 1`
* `source_discharge_disposition_system` → [`encounter_hospitalization_dischargedisposition_coding.system`](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/hospitalization_dischargedisposition_coding) w/ `code_rank = 1`
* `source_reason_code_code` → [`encounter_reasoncode_coding.code`](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/reasoncode_coding) w/ `code_rank = 1`
* `source_reason_code_display` → [`encounter_reasoncode_coding.display`](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/reasoncode_coding) w/ `code_rank = 1`
* `source_reason_code_system` → [`encounter_reasoncode_coding.system`](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/reasoncode_coding) w/ `code_rank = 1`
* `priority_hl7_code` → [`encounter_priority_coding.code`](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/priority_coding) w/ `system = 'http://terminology.hl7.org/CodeSystem/v3-ActPriority'`
* `priority_hl7_display` → [`encounter_priority_coding.display`](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/priority_coding) w/ `system = 'http://terminology.hl7.org/CodeSystem/v3-ActPriority'`
* `source_priority_code` → [`encounter_priority_coding.code`](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/priority_coding) w/ `code_rank = 1`
* `source_priority_display` → [`encounter_priority_coding.display`](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/priority_coding) w/ `code_rank = 1`
* `source_priority_system` → [`encounter_priority_coding.system`](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/encounter/priority_coding) w/ `code_rank = 1`