> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.metriport.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# communication

An occurrence of information being transmitted; e.g. an alert that was sent to a responsible provider, a public health agency that was notified about a reportable condition. See the [HL7 FHIR R4 spec](https://hl7.org/fhir/R4/communication.html) for full details.

**Tables in this resource:**

* **communication** – Communication record (this page)
* [communication\_category](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/communication/category) – Backbone for category
* [communication\_category\_coding](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/communication/category_coding)
* [communication\_extension](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/communication/extension)
* [communication\_extension\_vcc\_coding](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/communication/extension_vcc_coding)
* **communication\_references** – Normalized references; see [Reference Tables](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/reference_tables)

**Primary Keys:**

* communication\_id

**Foreign Keys:**

* patient\_id – links to the [patient](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/patient/base) table (subject)

<div style={{textAlign: 'right'}}><sub>† Metriport Platform added</sub></div>

| Column | Data Type | Description |
| - | - | - |
| communication\_id | varchar | Unique identifier for the communication |
| patient\_id | varchar | Unique identifier for the patient |
| status | varchar | Status of the communication |
| sent | datetime | When the communication was sent (FHIR `Communication.sent`) |
| received | datetime | When the communication was received (FHIR `Communication.received`) |
| meta\_source | varchar | Source document filename from FHIR meta.source |
| data\_source\_ext† | varchar | Integration source of the data, derived from FHIR extension |

**Related Tables:**

**Parent:**

* [patient](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/patient/base)

**Child:**

* [communication\_category](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/communication/category)
* [communication\_extension](/medical-api/handling-data/schema-v100/communication/extension)


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