Attribute value
One permissible option of a choice attribute: “a value that a radiologist might choose for a choice attribute. For example, the severity of a finding might be severe, or the shape of a finding might be oval.”1 A value has a name, an optional description, optional index codes, and a value_code.
Value codes are generated, never hand-written. The library appends a dot and the value’s zero-based position in the list to the owning attribute’s identifier, so the first listed value gets .0, the second .1, and so on.1 Position therefore carries meaning: the same dot suffix means different things in two models that list their values in a different order. See presence for the case where this matters most.
A numeric attribute has no attribute values. Its instance data is a number constrained by minimum, maximum, and unit.
Synonyms and near-synonyms
- Value code and choice value are used interchangeably for this concept; “value code” strictly means the identifier.
- Permissible value is the next-generation vocabulary’s term, where an element binding may restrict a shared element to a subset of them.2
- Value set is the whole list, not one member.
Identifier form
OIFMA_[A-Z]{3,4}_[0-9]{6}\.\d+, for example OIFMA_GMTS_707209.1. Consuming structures store the code and its display text side by side, as attributeValueCode and attributeValueDescription in an Exam Finding List.3
Where it is used
Finding model format, Identifiers, and Exam Finding List.