Backbone Elements

Backbone elements are a key concept in FHIR, used to group related data within a resource. These elements are not standalone types but are instead complex structures embedded within a resource. In FHIR terminology, they are referred to as Backbone Elements. For instance, the Patient resource includes a backbone element called contact.

../_images/fhir_patient_component.png

In the .NET SDK, a backbone element is implemented as a nested class within the corresponding resource class. The name of this subclass is derived from the backbone element’s name, appended with the word Component. For example, the contact backbone element in the Patient resource is represented as a ContactComponent class within the Patient class:

../_images/sdk_patient_component.png

To add contact details to a Patient instance, you can create and configure a ContactComponent object as shown below:

var contact = new Patient.ContactComponent();
contact.Name = new HumanName();
contact.Name.Family = "Parks";
// Configure additional contact details

pat.Contact.Add(contact);