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                         A CDA document shall have at least one author. Authors could be either human (ClinicalDocument/author/assignedAuthor/assignedPerson)
                           either devices (ClinicalDocument/author/assignedAuthor/assignedAuthoringDevice).
                         
                        
                        For definition “The author element represents the creator of the clinical document. If the role of the actor
                           is the entry of information from his or her own knowledge or application of skills, that actor is the author. If one actor provides information to another actor who filters, reasons, or algorithmically creates new information, then that second actor is also an author, having created information from his or her own knowledge or skills.” [From Implementation Guide for CDA Release 2: Imaging Integration – UV Realm, March
                           2009].
                         
                        
                        According to this definition, not any device that generates the electronic document
                           has to be considered as an author:
                         
                        
                        
                           
                           - a spider collecting and filtering information from different repositories, according
                              to defined rules and policies, for the scope of creating a Patient Summary is definitely
                              a document author (and maybe the only one for this document);
                           
 
                           
                           - an application that transforms a prescription record into a epSOS eP CDA may not be
                              an author instead;
                           
 
                           
                           - The NCP that modifies the concepts conveyed, should appear as one of the authors.
 
                           
                           - The author of the parent document is often also an author of the document generated
                              through a transformation process (in that case also the author time should be the
                              same).
                           
 
                           
                         
                        
                        Further to this, is therefore possible to determine the Nature of Patient Summary
                           as follows [Excluding the NCPs as authors]:
                         
                        
                        
                           
                           - if there is a person author only, there the Patient Summary is the result of a practitioner
                              clinical act;
                           
 
                           
                           - if there is a device author only, the summary was automatically generated according
                              to well defined rules defined by the responsible organization;
                           
 
                           
                           - if there are both a person and a device as authors, the summary was created via a
                              mixed approach.
                           
 
                           
                         
                        
                        The CDA provides a mechanism to better specify who authored what within the document,
                           allowing the specification of authorship at the whole document level, at the section
                           level and finally at the entry level. In any case is not required to repeat this information
                           for each level, taking advantage of the context conduction propriety. Infact “context
                           that is specified on an outer tag holds true for all nested tags, unless overridden
                           on a nested tag. Context specified on a tag within the CDA body always overrides context
                           propagated from an outer tag. For instance, the
                           specification of authorship at a document section level overrides all authorship propagated
                           from outer tags.” (HL7 CDA R2 Standard).
                         
                        
                         
                        
                        /ClinicalDocument/author/assignedAuthor /ClinicalDocument/documentationOf/serviceEvent/performer (this applies to the prescriber
                           and the dispenser).
                         
                        
                        The template ID referenced here refers to HP information in the /ClinicalDocument/documentationOf/serviceEvent/performer
                           structure. In this document, the same requriements apply to the person author of the
                           document (if there is one), and to the prescrober and dispenser (see body).
                         
                        
                        When there is no HP but we have the method of assembly of data by a device, such as
                           the “spider” method, we have the following expression; ClinicalDocument/author/assignedAuthor/assignedAuthoringDevice.
                         
                        
                        When the data is collected from different sources & pre-existing documents that are
                           part of a bigger system. In that case the organization responsible of that collection
                           “signed” the PS as responsible.
                         
                        
                        ClinicalDocument/author/assignedAuthor/representedOrganization 
                        
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