Data Categories | HDRN Canada

Data Category	Description	Examples
demographics	Data relating to a set of factors which characterize a population or segment of a population. Note: date of birth, date of death, and date(s) of marriage are included under the category “vital statistics”. Income and employment are included under “socioeconomic”.	Sex, gender, age [at some event], race, ethnicity, marital status, etc. E.g., age at clinical diagnosis
diagnosis	Data representing the conclusion of a clinical diagnostic process. The “diagnosis” label does not include patient-reported conditions.	Codes such as ICD-9/10, etc. Can include fields such as “COVID-19 status” with values such as “confirmed”, “suspected”, etc. Can include morbidity.
drugs (dispensed)	Data relating to the process of dispensing a drug compatible with a drug prescription and is generally dispensed by pharmacies/pharmacists. Includes anesthetics and devices.	Codes from drug dictionaries such as RxNorm or ATC (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical) etc., as well as the date or time of an order or the amount dispensed. May also be a flag indicating a drug was dispensed.
drugs (prescribed)	Data relating to the process of prescribing a drug compatible with a drug prescription. Instructions for a pharmacy from a physician. Can include anesthetics and devices.	Codes from drug dictionaries such as RxNorm or ATC (Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical) etc.
geographic location	Data relating to a location that has a geospatial description.	Postal code, province, street address, health region, etc. Can include spatial point and spatial region.
healthcare encounter	Data relating to an encounter between a patient and healthcare provider(s) for the purpose of providing healthcare service(s) or assessing the health status of a patient. Note the focus is on the activity (encounter) and not the location, which is covered under the category “healthcare facility”.	Date or time of encounter, as well as the reason for the healthcare encounter.
healthcare facility	Data relating to a facility with the function to provide healthcare and that is administered by a healthcare organization for the purpose of providing healthcare to a patient or patient population.	May relate to the identity (name or code) of a facility, or its type, e.g., acute hospital, mental health facility, emergency department, pharmacy, family physician’s office, virtual facility, or patient residence.
lab evaluation requests	Data relating to a request for the capture of a biological specimen, and the subsequent assays to be performed on the specimen in a manner removed from the patient (source organism), e.g., the specimen is analyzed in a laboratory setting. This description therefore specifically excludes requests for observational data obtained by in-situ methods, such as measurement of blood pressure.	Includes: e.g., test request codes for ‘sodium ion concentration within the plasma of a blood specimen’, ‘HbA1c’, ‘Full blood count’. Excludes: e.g., ‘blood pressure’, ‘forced expiratory volume in 1 second’ from a lung function test.
lab evaluation results	Data relating to the reported results of a laboratory evaluation request. Laboratory evaluation reports may have multiple parts, each of which include the identification of the assay, value(s) of the result, unit(s), normal range(s), time assay performed, etc.	These could include results from biochemistry, immunology, haematology, microbiology or pathology testing. E.g., test code for blood plasma sodium concentration, or unit, e.g., mmol/l, or timing, e.g., 2021-06-23
medical procedure	Data relating to a medical intervention intended to acquire information or to achieve a result in the care of a person with medical conditions.	Date and time of procedure, code for procedure from a suitable classification scheme. Medical procedures may include: cosmetic procedures, biopsies, electro-convulsive therapy (ECT), procedures such as endoscopy in an outpatient setting, surgery within a hospital setting, transplantation, immunization/vaccination, occupational therapy procedures.
population census	Data relating to an official census that is the outcome of a population survey.	Census subdivision, census tract name, census questions and responses.
social care encounter	Data relating to an encounter between a person and social care provider(s) for the purpose of providing care service(s) or assessing the social status of a person, particularly in relation to available service(s). Note the focus is on the service (encounter) and not the location.	Date and time of social care encounter.
socioeconomic	Data relating to measures of an individual’s or a group’s social and economic characteristics in relation to other individuals or groups.	Can include (for individuals) fields relating to income received for work, social assistance, or through investments. Can include education level or social and material deprivation indices. E.g., average income, specific incomes, flags for types of income.
vital statistics	Demographics concerning human life and the status/characteristics of the population. Vital statistics refer to selected characteristics of persons and include dates of birth and death (and stillbirth), and date(s) of marriage(s).	Date of death, date of birth, date of marriage.