This document specifies a set of representational primitives and semantic relations required for an
unambiguous representation of explicit time-related expressions in health informatics. This document does not
introduce or force a specific ontology of time, nor does it force the use of a fixed representation scheme for
such an ontology. Rather this document provides a set of principles for syntactic and semantic representation
that allow the comparability of specific ontologies on time, and the exchange of time-related information that is
expressed explicitly.
This document is applicable to:
1) developers of medical information systems in which the need is felt to have explicit time-related
concepts for internal organization (e.g. temporal data bases, temporal reasoning systems);
2) information modellers or knowledge engineers building models for the systems mentioned in (1);
3) experts involved in the development of semantic standards on precise subdomains in health care
where time-related information need to be covered, (e.g. in the study of Pathochronology, i.e. the
discipline dealing with the time course of specific diseases);
4) developers of interchange formats for messages in which time-related information is embedded.
This document is not intended to be used directly for:
1) representing what is true in time;
2) reasoning about time;
3) representation of metrological time (which is covered in other standards).
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