Telecom Element

Telecom Implementation Guide

Use case

This specification describes a single use case.

Element Usage

The Telecom element provides a method of contact for a patient. FHIR provides a pre-define set of contact methods and usages. Telecom is not used exclusively for recording a patients telephone number (landline or mobile).

• ‘telecom’ MAY be used to capture the patients contact details using a predefine contact type.
• Where telecom is used, the telecom.system MUST use the HL7 FHIR ContactPointSystem valueset
• Where telecom is used, the telecom.use MUST use the HL7 FHIR ContactPointUse valueset.
• National and International phone numbers MUST be supported.

Telecom Values

Telecom element is a string data type, therefore does not enforce any formats. Best practice should be followed when using the telecom element and adhere to the following structures for each system defined in the ContactPointSystem:

Phone, fax, email and pager

The E.123 and E.164 standards recommended by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) provides guidelines for the presentation of telephone numbers and email addresses and E.164 provides the international public telecommunication numbering plan. These standards are presentation standards which MAY be followed by implementers, however these are not standards for the storing of telecommunication values.

UK Numbers

UK numbers, including land line, fax and mobile numbers MUST be stored with a leading 0 followed by the remaining part of the area code and then the subscriber number. A Space between area code and subscriber number MUST be included.

Examples of Correct UK Usage

Usage	System	examples	Comments
	phone	0191 1231234	UK number with a space between area code and subscriber number
		07702 123123	UK mobile number with a space between code and subscriber number

Examples of Incorrect UK Usage

Usage	System	Examples	Comments
	phone	01911231234	The area code and subscriber numbers are no separated by a space
		(0191)1231234	The area code is enclosed using parentheses
		1231234	The area code is missing
		+44 0191 1231234	The international code is not required for a UK number
		+441911231234	This is difficult to read due to the unnecessary international dialing code in addition to the dropped leading zero and no spacing between the components of the number.

International Numbers

International numbers require a international dialling prefix (IDD) which MUST be included in addition to the country code and subscriber number. Spaces between the numbers MUST NOT be included. UK numbers MAY be stored in an international format.

IDD code MUST match the country code associated with it. A full list of IDD codes and the associated country code can be found here:

IDD and Country Codes

Examples of Correct International Usage

Usage	System	examples	Comments
	phone	44 191 1231234	UK number with a international dialling code with spaces between each component of the number
		44 7702 123123	UK number with a international dialling code with spaces between each component of the number

Examples of Incorrect International Usage

Usage	System	examples	Comments
	phone	+4401911231234	The international dialling code has a + symbol, followed by a leading zero and no spaces to separate each component of the number.
		44 0191 1231234	The leading zero in the area code is not required.
		441911231234	There is no spacing between the components of each element

Email Addresses

An email address MUST consist of name and domain parts to form the address. Each part must be separated using the @ symbol.

Examples of Correct Email Usage

Usage	System	examples	Comments
	email	john.smith@nhs.net	Email with given name and family name separated by a ‘.’ with the name and domain separated by a @ symbol
		johnsmith@nhs.net	Email with given and family name combined and domain separated by a @ symbol

Examples of Incorrect Email Usage

Usage	System	examples	Comments
	email	john.smith.nhs.net	Email address does not separate name and domain with an @ symbol.
		john@smith@nhs.net	Email contains two @ symbols

URL

Skype, Twitter, facebook and other online systems that are expressed as a URL MAY be used as a contact method. Note that a Skype number will follow the same format as a UK landline subscriber number and MUST NOT be used here.

Examples of Correct URL Usage

Usage	System	examples	Comments
	url	@johnsmith	A valid twitter address, beginning with an @ symbol
		https://www.facebook.com/john.smith	A valid facebook contact addresss.
		skype:johnsmith?call	A valid Skype contact addresss.

SMS

Not to be confused with a mobile number, although may use the same number for phone system type. This indicates the contact method must be via a SMS text message.

other

This system MAY be used when none of the alternative systems are available. It MUST not replicate a system that is available within the existing valueset.

On the wire XML example

<telecom>
	<system value="phone"/>
	<value value="44712345678"/>
	<use value="mobile"/>
</telecom>
<telecom>
	<system value="email"/>
	<value value="john.smith@nhs.net"/>
	<use value="home"/>
</telecom>

On the wire example in JSON

{
  "telecom": {
    "system": { "-value": "phone" },
    "value": { "-value": "0712345678" },
    "use": { "-value": "mobile" }
  }
}
{
  "telecom": {
    "system": { "-value": "email" },
    "value": { "-value": "john.smith@nhs.net" },
    "use": { "-value": "home" }
  }
}

Error Handling

The provider system SHALL return an error if:

• None numeric characters are included in a telecom value
• More than 15 characters are included in a telecom value
• Less than 11 characters are inluced in a telecome value
• Email does not contain an @ symbol within its value.
• URL does not confomrm to the url format for the given url source e.g. Skype address does not begin Skype:
• Other contains a value that could be stored using one of the alternative values found in the ContactPointSystem valueset.