Tracking linkage history
Resource matching does not delete a Linkage when a grouping changes. When
resources are split into separate groups, or a group drops below two members, the superseded
Linkage is retained with its active field set to
false. Current groupings have active set to true.
This lets you trace how a resource's linkages have evolved over time – for
example, to audit why two records were once grouped and are no longer, or to reconstruct the
state of a grouping at an earlier point.
Because inactive Linkage resources remain in the data store, use the
active search parameter to separate current links from historical ones.
- Get the current linkages for a resource
-
Return only the groupings that still hold:
GET /Linkage?item=Patient/patient-A&active=true&_include=Linkage:item - Get the historical (inactive) linkages for a resource
-
Return the superseded groupings a resource once belonged to:
GET /Linkage?item=Patient/patient-A&active=false&_include=Linkage:item - Get the full linkage history for a resource
-
Omit the
activefilter to return both current and historical groupings. Sort by_lastUpdatedto follow the sequence of changes:GET /Linkage?item=Patient/patient-A&_include=Linkage:item&_sort=_lastUpdated
Each inactive Linkage retains the
linkage-match-detail extensions that recorded which identifiers caused the
grouping, so you can see the specific system|value that once connected the
resources.
Note
Inactive Linkage resources count toward the linkages returned by a broad
search such as GET /Linkage. Filter on active=true if you want
only the current view.