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DocumentReference

Represents a reference to a clinical document or file associated with a patient, such as lab reports, imaging studies, discharge summaries, or invoices.

Schema ID: https://vetformat.org/schemas/v1/document-reference.schema.json

Fields

Field	Type	Required	Description
`resource_type`	`"DocumentReference"`	Yes	Fixed resource type identifier for this schema.
`id`	`string`	Yes	Unique identifier for the document reference record. UUID recommended.
`patient_id`	`string`	Yes	Reference to the patient this document is associated with.
`encounter_id`	`string`	No	Reference to the encounter during which this document was created or obtained.
`type`	enum	Yes	The category or type of document.
`description`	`string`	No	Human-readable description of the document.
`date`	`string (date-time)`	Yes	Date and time the document was created or obtained.
`content_type`	`string`	No	MIME type of the document content.
`url`	`string (uri)`	No	URL where the document can be retrieved.
`data`	`string`	No	Base64-encoded content of the document. Use for inline embedding of small documents.
`size_bytes`	`integer`	No	Size of the document content in bytes.
`hash`	`string`	No	SHA-256 hash of the document content for integrity verification.
`author`	[author]	No
`notes`	`string`	No	Additional notes about the document.

`type` values

lab-report
imaging
discharge-summary
referral
consent
invoice
other

Sub-objects

`author` object

The person who authored or created the document.

Field	Type	Required	Description
`name`	`string`	No	Full name of the document author.

Full Schema

{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "$id": "https://vetformat.org/schemas/v1/document-reference.schema.json",
  "title": "DocumentReference",
  "description": "Represents a reference to a clinical document or file associated with a patient, such as lab reports, imaging studies, discharge summaries, or invoices.",
  "type": "object",
  "required": [
    "resource_type",
    "id",
    "patient_id",
    "type",
    "date"
  ],
  "additionalProperties": true,
  "$defs": {
    "author": {
      "type": "object",
      "description": "The person who authored or created the document.",
      "properties": {
        "name": {
          "type": "string",
          "description": "Full name of the document author.",
          "examples": [
            "Dr. Anna Nowak"
          ]
        }
      },
      "additionalProperties": true
    }
  },
  "properties": {
    "resource_type": {
      "const": "DocumentReference",
      "description": "Fixed resource type identifier for this schema.",
      "examples": [
        "DocumentReference"
      ]
    },
    "id": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Unique identifier for the document reference record. UUID recommended.",
      "examples": [
        "doc-550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"
      ]
    },
    "patient_id": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Reference to the patient this document is associated with.",
      "examples": [
        "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000"
      ]
    },
    "encounter_id": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Reference to the encounter during which this document was created or obtained.",
      "examples": [
        "a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-ef1234567890"
      ]
    },
    "type": {
      "type": "string",
      "enum": [
        "lab-report",
        "imaging",
        "discharge-summary",
        "referral",
        "consent",
        "invoice",
        "other"
      ],
      "description": "The category or type of document.",
      "examples": [
        "lab-report"
      ]
    },
    "description": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Human-readable description of the document.",
      "examples": [
        "Complete blood count results from annual wellness exam"
      ]
    },
    "date": {
      "type": "string",
      "format": "date-time",
      "description": "Date and time the document was created or obtained.",
      "examples": [
        "2025-06-15T11:00:00Z"
      ]
    },
    "content_type": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "MIME type of the document content.",
      "examples": [
        "application/pdf"
      ]
    },
    "url": {
      "type": "string",
      "format": "uri",
      "description": "URL where the document can be retrieved.",
      "examples": [
        "https://example.com/documents/cbc-report-2025-06-15.pdf"
      ]
    },
    "data": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Base64-encoded content of the document. Use for inline embedding of small documents.",
      "examples": [
        "JVBERi0xLjQKMSAwIG9iago8PAovVGl0bGUgKExhYiBS..."
      ]
    },
    "size_bytes": {
      "type": "integer",
      "description": "Size of the document content in bytes.",
      "examples": [
        524288
      ]
    },
    "hash": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "SHA-256 hash of the document content for integrity verification.",
      "examples": [
        "e3b0c44298fc1c149afbf4c8996fb92427ae41e4649b934ca495991b7852b855"
      ]
    },
    "author": {
      "$ref": "#/$defs/author"
    },
    "notes": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Additional notes about the document.",
      "examples": [
        "Results reviewed and discussed with owner on 2025-06-16."
      ]
    }
  }
}