US Core Requires Observation.effective[x]
The US Core laboratory result profile expects an effective time on the observation: effectiveDateTime, effectivePeriod, effectiveTiming, or effectiveInstant. None was found.
FHIR · Warning
The error
US Core requires Observation.effective[x]Why it happens
Capturing the result value but not when it applies, or storing the time only on a parent report rather than on the observation itself.
How to fix it
Add an effective[x] element. For a single point in time use effectiveDateTime with a full timestamp; for a collection window use effectivePeriod with start and end.
Example
The snippet below triggers the error:
{
"resourceType": "Observation",
"status": "final",
"code": { "coding": [{ "system": "http://loinc.org", "code": "2345-7" }] },
"subject": { "reference": "Patient/example" }
}The corrected version:
{
"resourceType": "Observation",
"status": "final",
"code": { "coding": [{ "system": "http://loinc.org", "code": "2345-7" }] },
"subject": { "reference": "Patient/example" },
"effectiveDateTime": "2024-01-15T13:55:00Z"
}Frequently asked questions
What does the [x] in effective[x] mean?
It is a FHIR choice element: you pick one concrete type and name it accordingly, such as effectiveDateTime or effectivePeriod. You include exactly one of the allowed types, never the literal effective[x].