NISTIR 7329 

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

 HealthCare Standards Landscape 

User Guide 

Elizabeth Fong 

Roy Morgan 

Thomas Rhodes 

Clement Ridoret 

Hai Tang 

Information Technology Laboratory 

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

Gaithersburg MD 20899 

December 2006 

 

U.S. Department of Commerce 

Technology Administration 

National Institute of Standards and Technology
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page ii 

This version of the HealthCare Standards Landscape User Guide includes 

new features in the areas of: establishing and administering groups and 

subgroups; ownership, management, and disposition of content; and, in 

defining and using content relationships to search for Landscape content. 

Users may provide feedback either via the Landscape menu selection “User 

Support/Contact Us,” or by contacting the HCSL System Administrator at 

hcsl_admin@nist.gov. 

Disclaimer: Any mention of commercial products, standards, organizations, 

projects or other material in this document or in the HealthCare Standards 

Landscape is for information only; it does not imply recommendations or 

endorsement by NIST, nor does it imply that the products mentioned are 

necessarily the best available for the purpose. 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page iii 

HealthCare Standards Landscape User Guide 

Elizabeth Fong 

Roy Morgan 

Thomas Rhodes 

Clement Ridoret 

Hai Tang 

Information Technology Laboratory 

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

Gaithersburg MD 20899 

Abstract 

This document provides a tutorial and guide for using the features of the HealthCare 

Standards Landscape (HCSL) web-based application. The HCSL, also called the 

“Landscape,” was developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology 

(NIST) to provide and demonstrate to the healthcare informatics community a web-based 

capability for finding and publishing information on healthcare standards and related 

information. This Users Guide describes how to use the Landscape web site to search, 

retrieve, and publish healthcare standards’ information in the Landscape. It also provides 

information on establishing and managing organizational Groups and Subgroups of users 

and content within the Landscape, for Group and Subgroup administrators. 

Keywords: 

Health informatics, health informatics standards, health IT; health information 

technology; healthcare standards; healthcare standards information; HCSL; HealthCare 

Standards Landscape; healthcare standards landscape; standards; standards development; 

standards repository; user guide; web-based standards repository. 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page iv 

Table of Contents 

1 Introduction............................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Overview of HealthCare Standards Landscape .................................................. 1 

1.2 Approach............................................................................................................. 1 

1.3 Purpose of HCSL................................................................................................ 2 

1.4 Impact of the HCSL............................................................................................ 2 

1.5 HCSL System Architecture................................................................................. 2 

1.6 Type of Information in the HCSL Repository .................................................... 3 

1.7 Accessing the HCSL Web Site ........................................................................... 4 

1.8 Who May Access HCSL Information................................................................. 5 

1.9 The HCSL Home and Welcome Pages............................................................... 5 

2 Overview of HCSL Features.................................................................................... 6

3 Main Menu for Anonymous Users.......................................................................... 9

4 Search and Browse Content..................................................................................... 9

4.1 Search for Documents....................................................................................... 11 

4.1.1 Method 1 – Boolean Query....................................................................... 12 

4.1.2 Method 2 – Pattern Search Using a Search String.................................... 16 

4.1.3 Finding All Documents with the Same Indexed Element and Value ....... 17 

4.1.4 Browse a Document’s Relationships ........................................................ 19 

4.2 Search for Organizations................................................................................... 20 

4.2.1 Illustration of Method 1 Boolean Query Using “ALL” ............................ 22 

4.2.2 Illustration of Method 1 Boolean Queries Using Specific Values............ 22 

4.2.3 Illustration of Method 2 Organization Search Using a Search String ...... 23 

4.2.4 Finding All Organizations with the Same Indexed Element and Value ... 24 

4.2.5 Browse an Organization’s Relationships.................................................. 24 

4.3 Search for Portfolios......................................................................................... 24 

4.3.1 Illustration of Portfolio Search Using a Search String.............................. 24 

4.3.2 Browse a Portfolio’s Relationships........................................................... 25 

4.4 Search for Content by Relationships................................................................. 26 

4.5 Browse Groups and Subgroups......................................................................... 30 

4.6 Browse HealthCare Domains............................................................................ 31 

5 Users, Roles, Registration, Groups and Subgroups............................................. 33

5.1 Landscape User Types...................................................................................... 33 

5.2 Landscape Groups and Subgroups.................................................................... 34 

5.2.1 Types of Membership in Groups and Subgroups ..................................... 34 

5.3 User Roles and Privileges................................................................................. 34 

5.3.1 System Administrator (SA)....................................................................... 34 

5.3.2 Anonymous User (AU)............................................................................. 35 

5.3.3 Registered User (RU)................................................................................ 35 

5.3.4 Group Member (GM)................................................................................ 35 

5.3.5 Group Administrator (GA) ....................................................................... 36 

5.3.6 Subgroup Member (SGM)........................................................................ 36 

5.3.7 Subgroup Administrator (SGA)................................................................ 36 

5.4 User Registration .............................................................................................. 36 

5.4.1 Separate HCSL User Accounts................................................................. 37 

5.5 Registered User Login to HCSL....................................................................... 37 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page v 

5.5.1 Login to Guest Group ............................................................................... 38 

5.5.2 Login to a Group or Subgroup.................................................................. 40 

5.5.3 Log Out of a Group or Subgroup.............................................................. 42 

5.6 Joining an HCSL Group.................................................................................... 42 

5.7 Joining an HCSL Subgroup .............................................................................. 43 

5.7.1 Joining a Subgroup within a Group .......................................................... 44 

5.7.2 Joining a Subgroup within a Subgroup..................................................... 45 

5.7.3 Create a Group .......................................................................................... 45 

6 Menus for Group and Subgroup Members.......................................................... 45

6.1 Member Area Menu Selections ........................................................................ 46 

6.1.1 My Content Menu Selection ..................................................................... 47 

6.1.2 My Group Menu Selection........................................................................ 49 

6.1.3 My Settings Menu Selection..................................................................... 51 

6.1.4 Switch Groups Menu Selection ................................................................ 52 

6.1.5 Browse Groups Menu Selection ............................................................... 53 

6.1.6 Join Another Group Menu Selection ........................................................ 53 

6.1.7 Create a Group Menu Selection................................................................ 53 

6.2 Add Content Menu Selection............................................................................ 54 

6.2.1 Add a Document Instance......................................................................... 54 

6.2.2 Add an Organization Instance................................................................... 56 

6.2.3 Add a Portfolio Instance ........................................................................... 58 

6.3 Update or Delete Content.................................................................................. 59 

6.4 Add, Update, and Delete Relationships Between Content ............................... 60 

6.4.1 Adding a Relationship Between Content.................................................. 60 

6.4.2 Update or Delete a Relationship Between Content................................... 66 

6.4.3 Types of Content Relationships................................................................ 68 

6.5 XML Menu Selection ....................................................................................... 70 

7 Establishing and Managing Groups and Subgroups........................................... 71

7.1 Establishing a Group......................................................................................... 71 

7.2 Member Area Menu Selections for Group/Subgroup Administrators.............. 73 

7.2.1 My Group Menu Selection........................................................................ 73 

7.3 Modifying Group/Subgroup Default Content Permissions............................... 76 

7.4 Adding a Subgroup ........................................................................................... 76 

7.5 Removing a Subgroup....................................................................................... 80 

7.6 Removing a Group............................................................................................ 81 

8 User Support Menu ................................................................................................ 82

8.1 User Guide Menu.............................................................................................. 83 

8.2 Presentations Menu........................................................................................... 83 

8.3 FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Menu....................................................... 83 

8.4 Acronyms and Links Menu............................................................................... 83 

8.5 Contact Us Menu .............................................................................................. 83 

9 Background Menu .................................................................................................. 84

10 Related Activities Menu ..................................................................................... 85

10.1 AHRQ Yellow Book Menu .............................................................................. 85 

10.2 Conformance Menu .......................................................................................... 86 

11 Summary.............................................................................................................. 86

12 Appendix A - XML Schemas ............................................................................. 88

12.1 The Document Schema ..................................................................................... 88 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page vi 

12.2 The Organization Schema................................................................................. 94 

12.3 The Portfolio Schema ....................................................................................... 99 

13 Appendix B - Glossary...................................................................................... 100

14 Appendix C – FAQ, Frequently Asked Questions......................................... 103

15 Appendix D - User Roles and Privileges......................................................... 118

15.1 System Administrator (SA)............................................................................. 118 

15.2 Anonymous User (AU)................................................................................... 118 

15.3 Registered User (RU)...................................................................................... 119 

15.4 Guest User (GU) ............................................................................................. 119 

15.5 Group Member (GM)...................................................................................... 119 

15.6 Group Administrator (GA) ............................................................................. 120 

15.7 Subgroup Member (SGM).............................................................................. 120 

15.8 Subgroup Administrator (SGA)...................................................................... 121 

16 Appendix E - HTMLArea Editor .................................................................... 123

17 Index................................................................................................................... 126

List of Figures 

Figure 1 HCSL System Architecture .................................................................................. 3 

Figure 2 HCSL Information Types and Sample Relationships .......................................... 4 

Figure 3 HCSL Home Page ................................................................................................ 5 

Figure 4 HCSL Welcome Page........................................................................................... 6 

Figure 5 Main Menus for Anonymous Users ..................................................................... 9 

Figure 6 Main Menus with Search Content Menu Expanded........................................... 10 

Figure 7 Document Search Page Showing Search Methods 1 and 2................................ 11 

Figure 8 Document Search Results List – (partial list)..................................................... 13 

Figure 9 Contents of the Document Record “ADA TR 1016” ......................................... 14 

Figure 10 Boolean Document Query Using Specific Search-Term Values ..................... 15 

Figure 11 Boolean Document Query Using Multiple Search-Term Values..................... 15 

Figure 12 Boolean Search Query Using OR with Multiple “HealthCare Domain” Values

................................................................................................................................... 16 

Figure 13 Sample Document Query Using Method 2 ...................................................... 16 

Figure 14 Contents of Document “HL7 Messaging”........................................................ 18 

Figure 15 List of Documents having the HealthCare Domain “Insurance” ..................... 19 

Figure 16 Examples of Relationships for HL7 Organization ........................................... 20 

Figure 17 Organization Query Using Search Method 1 and Default Value “ALL”......... 21 

Figure 18 Organization Query Using Search Method 1 and Specific Index-Term Values

................................................................................................................................... 22 

Figure 19 Organization Query Using Search Method 1 and “OR” Between Indexed 

Terms ........................................................................................................................ 23 

Figure 20 Organization Query Using Search Method 2 ................................................... 23 

Figure 21 Portfolio Search Screen .................................................................................... 24 

Figure 22 Sample Portfolio Search Using Search String of “HL7”.................................. 25 

Figure 23 Results of Portfolio Search Using the Search String “HL7”............................ 25 

Figure 24 Content of “HL7” Portfolio.............................................................................. 25 

Figure 25 Selecting Object Types for a Relationship Search ........................................... 27 

Figure 26 Selecting Source and Target Objects and Relationship(s) ............................... 28 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page vii 

Figure 27 Search Results for “Relationship Not Found”.................................................. 29 

Figure 28 Search Results for “Relationship Found”......................................................... 29 

Figure 29 List of Landscape Groups (Partial)................................................................... 30 

Figure 30 Expanded Lists of the HHS Group and Subgroups.......................................... 30 

Figure 31 Group Information Display – NIST ................................................................. 31 

Figure 32 Information Display for a Group/Subgroup Member....................................... 31 

Figure 33 List of HealthCare Domains (partial listing).................................................... 32 

Figure 34 List of Documents with the HC Domain “Accounting/Billing” ...................... 32 

Figure 35 List of Organizations with the HC Domain “Accounting/Billing” .................. 33 

Figure 36 User Registration Form .................................................................................... 37 

Figure 37 Login Screen for Registered Users................................................................... 38 

Figure 38 Guest Group Login Screen for Registered User............................................... 39 

Figure 39 Main Menus Showing “Member Area” Menu Selections for Registered 

“Guest” Users............................................................................................................ 39 

Figure 40 Login Screen to Enter Username and Password............................................... 40 

Figure 41 Select Group or Subgroup Screen – Login continued...................................... 41 

Figure 42 Main Menu Selections for a Group/Subgroup Member................................... 42 

Figure 43 Logout............................................................................................................... 42 

Figure 44 Selecting an HCSL Group to Join .................................................................... 43 

Figure 45 Join a Group – Request Sent Notification Message ......................................... 43 

Figure 46 Join a Subgroup Display................................................................................... 44 

Figure 47 Main Menu Selections for a Group/Subgroup Member................................... 45 

Figure 48 “Member Area” Menu Selections for a Group/Subgroup Member.................. 46 

Figure 49 “My Content” Display Listing Member Content ............................................. 47 

Figure 50 “My Content Submenu” – Change Content Permissions or Transfer Ownership

................................................................................................................................... 48 

Figure 51 “My Group” Information Display .................................................................... 50 

Figure 52 “My Group Menu” – Leaving a Group or Subgroup ....................................... 51 

Figure 53 “My Group Menu” – Leaving a Group or Subgroup – You Have Been 

Removed ................................................................................................................... 51 

Figure 54 “My Settings” Display...................................................................................... 52 

Figure 55 Switch Group.................................................................................................... 53 

Figure 56 Add Content Drop-Down Menus ..................................................................... 54 

Figure 57 Register a Document Instance.......................................................................... 55 

Figure 58 Register an Organization .................................................................................. 57 

Figure 59 Register a Portfolio........................................................................................... 58 

Figure 60 Sample Document showing Update and Delete Controls................................ 59 

Figure 61 Form for Updating a Document ....................................................................... 60 

Figure 62 Create Relationships - Select Relationship Pair (Document-to-Document 

illustrated) ................................................................................................................. 61 

Figure 63 Selecting Specific Documents and a Relationship ........................................... 62 

Figure 64 Selecting a Specific Organization to Document Relationship ......................... 63 

Figure 65 Effects of Content and Relationship Permissions on Making a Relationship.. 65 

Figure 66 Example of Relationships for the Organization HL7....................................... 67 

Figure 67 Example of Updating a Relationship Between the HL7 Organization and a 

Document.................................................................................................................. 67 

Figure 68 Enter and Register XML Instance Data............................................................ 70 

Figure 69 Creating a Group .............................................................................................. 72 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page viii 

Figure 70 Example of “My Group” Display for the Group Administrator of the DHHS 

Group ........................................................................................................................ 73 

Figure 71 “Remove Member” Alert Message to an Administrator.................................. 75 

Figure 72 My Group DHHS – Default Access Permissions for Group/Subgroup Content

................................................................................................................................... 76 

Figure 73 Member Area - My Group Display – Add a Subgroup.................................... 77 

Figure 74 Member Area - My Group Display –Subgroups and Administrators .............. 79 

Figure 75 Member Area - My Group Display – Changing Subgroup Administrator....... 80 

Figure 76 Confirm “Delete a Subgroup” Message ........................................................... 81 

Figure 77 User Support Menus......................................................................................... 82 

Figure 78 “Contact Us” Display ....................................................................................... 83 

Figure 79 Background – Overview and Approach ........................................................... 84 

Figure 80 Related Activities Menu................................................................................... 85 

Figure 81 XML Schema for Document ............................................................................ 93 

Figure 82 XML Schema for Organization (“Entity”)....................................................... 98 

Figure 83 XML Schema for Portfolio............................................................................... 99 

Figure 84 HTMLArea Editor initial window.................................................................. 123 

Figure 85 WSIWYG View of Sample Content with HTML styling. ............................. 124 

Figure 86 Text View of Sample Content with HTML Tags........................................... 124 

Figure 87 Sample Edited Content Pasted into New Document Record (partial contents)

................................................................................................................................. 125 

List of Tables 

Table 1 HCSL Content Relationships and Inverse Relationships .................................... 69 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 1 

HealthCare Standards Landscape User Guide 

1 Introduction 

The healthcare (HC) industry has many standards development organizations (SDOs) 

developing specifications and standards for healthcare informatics and information 

exchange covering a wide spectrum of healthcare activities. The many development 

efforts and large number of healthcare standards that exist or are in development, make it 

very difficult to monitor and track the overall healthcare standards landscape. 

This in turn impedes harmonization efforts among SDOs and frustrates efforts by users 

and organizations to identify, understand, and adopt needed standards. By improving the 

availability and dissemination of healthcare standards information, many of these 

problems can be relieved and collaboration and implementation efforts can be improved 

among developers, implementers, and users of healthcare standards. 

To address this need, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has 

developed a prototype web-based application and repository of healthcare informatics 

standards information. This application and repository is referred to as the HealthCare 

Standards Landscape (HCSL) or simply “The Landscape.” 

This document provides a user guide on how to navigate the web site, and publish and 

retrieve information on healthcare standards, development organization(s), organizations 

adopting and using these standards, and on other relevant healthcare standards 

information. It also provides information for system administrators on how to establish 

Groups and Subgroups, and add and manage content and users within a Group and 

Subgroup. These capabilities are discussed further in Section 7. 

1.1 Overview of HealthCare Standards Landscape 

The development of standards for clinical and administrative information exchange, and 

simplified methods to access healthcare information and services is crucial in making 

healthcare safe and available to all. In order to better disseminate and understand current 

activities in the standardization field, and to foster better coordination and cooperation 

among the many participants in the development and use of healthcare standards, the 

HealthCare Standards Landscape tool has been developed. 

1.2 Approach 

NIST collaborated with various healthcare standards developers and stakeholders to 

define, develop, test, and demonstrate the prototype HCSL capability. This included the 

ANSI Health Information Technology Standards Board (HITSB), the Agency for Health 

Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the e-Gov Consolidated Health Informatics (CHI) 

program, as well as monitoring and engaging other SDOs and HC organizations, 

including the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), Health 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 2 

Level Seven (HL7), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE-1073), 

and the National Alliance for Health Information Technology (NAHIT). 

The HCSL is available and operational on the Web, with actual data to demonstrate its 

overall capabilities, for users to search for and publish additional HC standards 

information into the HCSL repository. Later, NIST plans to provide an open source 

version of the HCSL software and make this available for downloading and use by other 

organizations. 

1.3 Purpose of HCSL 

The current HCSL is meant to provide and demonstrate a web-based capability to those 

interested in finding and publishing information on health informatics standards and other 

related information, including information on standards development organizations, 

implementers, end-user organizations that have adopted and implemented healthcare 

standards, and on standards’ portfolios (i.e., collection of healthcare standards, 

guidelines, etc.) that organizations have adopted. The HCSL also includes links to other 

healthcare and standards resources. 

The current HCSL contains a modest amount of information to demonstrate its 

capabilities. However, it is available for users and organizations to add additional 

information to the HCSL repository (database) so as to enhance its usefulness to all 

stakeholders. Over time, NIST envisions that the HCSL will grow to become a 

comprehensive resource of relevant health informatics and healthcare standards’ 

information for the wider community of healthcare stakeholders. 

1.4 Impact of the HCSL 

The HCSL provides for a concise and comprehensive source of web-based information 

on healthcare standards information, and can leverage other healthcare standards 

resources by providing web-links to these resources. Thus, the HCSL information can 

support development, implementation, and adoption of healthcare standards by enabling 

users, system developers, and integrators to quickly find standards information and 

become more knowledgeable of existing and emerging standards and their use by 

healthcare organizations and applications. 

1.5 HCSL System Architecture 

The Landscape is a web application composed of a server and associated database that 

can be accessed by users through a web-browser over the Internet. The major system 

components and key information flows are shown below in Figure 1. 
Figure 1 HCSL System Architecture 

1.6 Type of Information in the HCSL Repository 

The HCSL repository contains information about and related to health informatics 

standards. The HCSL does not include the actual standards themselves, since these are 

usually available for a fee from standards’ development organizations. The type of 

information contained in the HCSL repository includes information about: 

 Health informatics standards and links to where they can be obtained, 

 Organizations involved in developing and fostering the implementation of the 

standards, 

 Organizations adopting and using these standards, 

 Portfolios of standards adopted or used by organizations, 

 Other relevant healthcare standards’ information. 

 Relationships among Landscape information. 

Currently, the HCSL repository supports three types of information records, or content 

objects, as described below: 

 Document - about healthcare information, e.g., specifications, standards, 

regulations, guidelines, implementation guides, and code lists. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 3 
 Organization – about healthcare organizations, e.g., development organizations, 

consortia, government groups, and user groups. 

 Portfolio – about collections of documents (standards, guidelines and the like) 

developed, maintained, or used by an Organization; e.g., the group of standards 

consisting of HL7 Messaging, DICOM, and LOINC are part of the Portfolios for 

the Connecting-for-Health (C-f-H) and the Consolidated Health Informatics (CHI) 

organizations. 

These three types of information objects (Document, Organization, Portfolio) comprise 

the major elements of the current ”information model” of the HCSL. Schemas for these 

three types of content objects may be found in “Appendix A - XML Schemas.” 

In addition, the HCSL supports Relationships. A Relationship describes a relationship 

between pairs of information objects. Some examples are: an Organization develops or

uses a Document (perhaps a standard or code list); a Document is published by an 

Organization; a Document references another Document. 

Figure 2, shows the three types of information objects and indicates some of the possible 

relationships that may be made between them. 

Figure 2 HCSL Information Types and Sample Relationships 

1.7 Accessing the HCSL Web Site 

The HCSL is hosted on a public server at NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland. To access the 

HCSL, a user requires: 

• A web-browser (e.g., Netscape, Firefox, or Internet Explorer) capable of 

supporting HTML/HTTP, Java, Java Script, and XML/XSLT, and 

• A connection to the Internet. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 4 
The following URLs are used to access the HCSL site: http://www.nist.gov/hcsl, and 

http://hcsl.sdct.nist.gov. 

1.8 Who May Access HCSL Information 

Anyone may access the HCSL to search for information. Users who are not registered 

with the HCSL are considered "Anonymous Users" and may browse or search the 

repository without having to login with a username or password. However, they cannot 

add, delete, or change HCSL content, or make relationships among any content. 

Users who register with the HCSL (i.e. “Registered Users”) and become members of an 

HCSL Group (i.e. “Group Members”) may search for content, add new content, and 

update or delete their content within a Group. “Group Members” may also make 

relationships among content that they submitted, or have been given permission to 

modify, and may also change their username or password. These various HCSL features 

are described later in other sections of this document. 

1.9 The HCSL Home and Welcome Pages 

The HCSL Home page is shown below in Figure 3. A user enter the HCSL system 

through the Home page by clicking anywhere within the rectangular-border containing 

the HCSL title and logo. This action will bring a user to the Landscape Welcome page 

containing the Main Menu selections, as shown in Figure 4. 

Figure 3 HCSL Home Page 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 5 
Figure 4 HCSL Welcome Page 

The Main Menu, shown in the Welcome page, Figure 4, is available to all non-registered, 

or “Anonymous,” HCSL users, and provides menu selections for searching and other 

functions, which are described in the following Sections (Note, registered users and 

members of Groups are described further in Section 5). 

2 Overview of HCSL Features 

The HCSL capabilities allow users to publish and search for content, and support system 

administration functions. A brief description of HCSL features is given below: 

1. Browsing - A user can browse the HCSL repository for information content 

describing healthcare standards related “Documents”, “Organizations”, and 

“Portfolios.” “Relationships” that exist between documents, organizations, and 

portfolios can also be viewed. 

2. Searching - A user can search for content in the HCSL repository using either 

Boolean queries, a pattern search using a text search-string on the content name or 

keywords, or by using content relationships to find content having a specific 

relationship between them. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 6 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 7 

3. Displaying content with the same indexed data element value – Certain data 

elements and their values are indexed to allow finding content containing these 

elements and values. For example, the data element “Document Type,” within a 

document object, has a list of values that describe various kinds of document 

types, e.g., report, standard, photograph, etc. For each document type, such as a 

report, one can easily find and view all other documents of type “report” that are 

in the repository. 

4. Entering new or updating data - A registered user can add, modify, and delete 

content for Documents, Organizations, Portfolios, and Relationships, which the 

user entered (i.e. “owns”) within their Group or Subgroup, or for content that they 

have permission to modify. 

5. Defining and searching for relationships - A user can define Relationships 

among content in the Landscape that provides further information about these 

content, and which may be used in searching for content by relationships. The 

Relationship search capability allows users to discover information by the type of 

relationship defined between Organization, Document, and Portfolio objects. For 

example, as shown previously in Figure 2, an “Organization” object may have one 

or more “Document” objects that it “uses,” “manages,” or “develops,” where each 

of these terms describes a type of relationship that exists between the 

“Organization” and “Document” objects. Similarly, a “Portfolio” object may 

have one or more “Document” objects that are “members” of that “Portfolio,” and 

a “Portfolio” may be associated with an “Organization” object that “manages,” 

“uses,” or “develops” the “Portfolio.” 

6. Publishing and managing content – Anyone may access and search the 

Landscape for information. However, only registered users that are members of a 

Group or Subgroup may publish and manage content (e.g. add, update, delete, 

change access permissions, or content ownership) in the Landscape. Members 

may log into their Group/Subgroup, using their username and password, to add, 

update, or delete their content. They may also make relationships between their 

content and other user content, that is not restricted, and may also transfer content 

ownership and change content access permissions. 

7. Groups and Subgroups - The Group and Subgroup functions of the Landscape 

provide a powerful set of capabilities that help users organize and manage the 

Landscape content. Groups and Subgroups enable organizations (or individuals) 

to establish their own "space" within HCSL for managing and controlling user 

membership and content in a Group, and in any of its Subgroup(s). 

The Group/Sub-Group capability enables hierarchical Group and Subgroup 

structures to be established in the Landscape that can reflect the organizational 

structure of an organization using the Landscape. For example, a standards 

development organization (SDO) may have a hierarchical structure of 

committees, sub-committees, task forces, working groups, sub-working groups, 

etc., each with their respective members and documents (i.e. content) that are 

managed by different organizational components. Within this overall structure, 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 8 

some content may be shared by all members of the organization, while other 

content may be restricted to the content owner, or limited to members of a subgroup, until such time that it is ready to be shared with others within or outside of 

the organization. The HCSL Group and Subgroup capability supports such 

requirements for organizing and managing group information and membership 

within an organization. 

Each Group and Subgroup has its own Administrator who manages members, 

content, default content access permissions (e.g. who may access and view 

content), and Subgroups. Typically, HCSL content is "public" and viewable by 

all. However, there may be situations where a Group or Subgroup wants to keep 

its content "private," or only allow members of the Group or Subgroup to have 

access to its content; for example, while the information is still under 

development. Later, members of the Group or Subgroup may share their content 

publicly with other HCSL users. 
3 Main Menu for Anonymous Users 

The Main Menu for all non-registered, or “Anonymous,” users is shown in Figure 5. 

Each item on the Main Menu is briefly described below: 

• Home – returns a user to the “Welcome” page 

• Login/Logout – displays the Login or Logout page for use by Registered Users 

and Group/Subgroup Members 

• Register – displays the user Registration page 

• Search Content – displays submenus for searching HCSL content 

• User Support – displays submenus for accessing support information 

• Background – displays background information on the HCSL project 

• Related Activities – displays submenus for other projects related to HCSL 

Each menu and associated submenus are described further in the following sections. 

Figure 5 Main Menus for Anonymous Users 

4 Search and Browse Content 

This section describes the “Search Content” menu, shown in Figure 5, which is used to 

search for information in the HCSL repository. When the “Search Content” menu is 

selected, six sub-menus appear, as listed below and shown in Figure 6: 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 9 
Search Content Menu Selections

 

• Documents – search for documents. 

• Organizations - search for organizations. 

• Portfolios - search for portfolios. 

• Relationships - search for content having a given relationship between them. 

• Browse Groups – display and obtain information about Landscape 

Groups/Subgroups. 

• Browse HCdomains – display the list of healthcare domains (enumerated list) and 

find documents or organizations associated with these domains. 

Figure 6 Main Menus with Search Content Menu Expanded 

When searching for Documents or Organizations, the Landscape provides two methods 

for finding content: the first method allows Boolean queries to be used in searching for 

content, and the second method provides for a pattern search using a text search-string to 

find content whose name or keywords contains the search-string. These two methods, 

and each of the sub-menus under the “Search Content” menu, are described in the 

following sections. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 10 
4.1 Search for Documents 

By clicking on the “Documents” sub-menu (see Figure 6), the “Document Search” page 

will appear, as shown in Figure 7. This page provides two methods for searching for and 

finding documents: the first method allows Boolean queries to be used in searching for 

content; and the second method allows a text search-string to be used to find content 

having a name or keyword that contains the search-string. Each method is further 

described and illustrated in the following sections. 

Figure 7 Document Search Page Showing Search Methods 1 and 2 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 11 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 12 

4.1.1 Method 1 – Boolean Query 

This Method allows a user to search for documents based on the content or values of 

selected data fields that have been indexed to facilitate searching by those values. For 

"Document" type objects, the HCSL indexes the data elements: 

• Document Type 

• Document Status 

• HealthCare Domain 

Each indexed element (i.e., search term) has a defined set of enumerated values that may 

be selected (from a drop down lists) and used to classify or characterize a new document 

when it is added to the Landscape or when it is updated. These indexed terms and values 

may then be combined and used in a Boolean query to search for content that contains the 

selected elements and values. The indexed elements and values are combined using the 

Boolean operators, "AND" or "OR," to form a Boolean expression that is used to query 

for selected content. 

For example, referring to Figure 7, to find Documents in HCSL that are "published” 

standards related to healthcare “messaging," the user would select from the drop-down 

lists, the values: 

a) "Specification/standard" for "Document Type;" 

b) "Published" for "Document Status;" and, 

c) "Messaging" for "HealthCare Domain." 

As previously shown in Figure 7, the default value for each of these indexed data 

elements or terms is “All.” By using the default value of "All" for the various search 

terms, and selecting "Search," a list of all the Document names in the Landscape is 

displayed. Any item in this list can then be selected to view its data content. 

Similarly, a user may select specific values for each term, and select whether the terms 

should be AND’d or OR’d together, to form a Boolean query. For example, a user may 

select “Standard,” “Published,” “Messaging” as values for “Document Type,” 

“Document Status,” and “HCDomain,” respectively, to form the Boolean expression, 

“Standard AND Published AND Messaging,” to search for all standards that are 

published and relate to messaging standards. 

Note that for any search term, multiple values may be selected from a drop-down list and 

used in the query expression by holding the control key (Ctrl) down while making 

selections from a list. Thus, in the previous example, a user could find all published or 

draft standards relating to messaging by using the "Ctrl" key to select both "Draft" and 

"Published" from the list for "Document Status." 

Note, that when multiple values for a search term are selected from a drop-down list, by 

default they form an implied "OR" expression among those values. Hence, in the 

previous example, selecting both "Draft" and "Published" from the list for "Document 

Status," will result in finding all HCSL Documents whose status is either "Draft” or 
“Published." 

An exception to this rule exists for the search term "HealthCare Domains" where multiple 

values may be selected from the list and combined using either an "OR" or an "AND" 

condition in the query. Using the previous example again, all published or draft 

standards relating to messaging and/or health informatics may be found by selecting both 

"Messaging" and “Health Informatics” from the list of "HealthCare Domain" values, and 

then selecting either "AND" or "OR," beneath the list, to combine these terms and values, 

as required. This would allow searching for content having both healthcare domain 

values, or having either healthcare domain value, respectively. 

4.1.1.1 Illustration of Method 1 Boolean Query Using the Default 

Value “ALL” 

By using Method 1 and the default value of ALL for Document Type, Document Status, 

and HealthCare Domain, and the default condition “AND” between the indexed 

elements, as shown previously in Figure 7, a list of all document titles or names in the 

Landscape will be displayed, as shown in Figure 8 (partial list of documents shown). 

Figure 8 Document Search Results List – (partial list) 

By selecting the document title by clicking on it, the selected individual document with 

its data elements and values (content) will be displayed, as shown below in Figure 9. 

Note that only data elements containing actual values or content (i.e. non-empty 

elements) are displayed on the screen. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 13 
Figure 9 Contents of the Document Record “ADA TR 1016” 

4.1.1.2 Illustration of Method 1 Boolean Query Using Specific 

Search-Term Values 

Figure 10 shown below, illustrates a Boolean query using the search-terms and specific 

values of: 

Document Type = “Abstract” AND 

Document Status = “Approved” AND 

HealthCare Domains = “Billing (HIPAA)” 

Clicking on “Search (Method 1)” will result in a list of documents that are abstracts and 

approved documents with a healthcare domain of Billing (HIPPA). If there are no 

documents that satisfy this query, the result page will say “No Matching Content.” 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 14 
Figure 10 Boolean Document Query Using Specific Search-Term Values 

The example shown below, Figure 11, illustrates a Boolean query using the search-terms 

and values of: 

Document Type = “Abstract” OR 

Document Status = “Approved” or “Approved and published” AND 

HealthCare Domains = “Billing (HIPPA) 

This example illustrates the use of multiple values being selected for the search-term 

“Document Status.” Clicking on “Search (Method 1)” will result in a list of documents 

that are abstracts, or approved, or approved and published documents, with a healthcare 

domain of billing (HIPPA). If there are no documents that satisfy this query, the result 

page will say “No Matching Content.” 

Figure 11 Boolean Document Query Using Multiple Search-Term Values 

The example shown below illustrates a Boolean query using multiple values for the 

“Health Care Domain” data element that are combined in an “OR” expression. The 

screen shown below Figure 12, illustrates a Boolean query using the search-terms and 

values of: 

Document Type = “Abstract” AND 

Document Status = “Approved” AND 

HealthCare Domains = “Accounting Billing” OR “Billing (HIPPA)” 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 15 
Clicking on “Search (Method 1)” will result in a list of abstract and approved documents 

with healthcare domain of Billing (HIPPA) or Accounting/Billing. If there are no 

documents that satisfy this query, the result page will say “No Matching Content.” 

Figure 12 Boolean Search Query Using OR with Multiple “HealthCare Domain” Values 

4.1.2 Method 2 – Pattern Search Using a Search String 

This Method allows a user to search for Documents using a string of characters as a 

pattern (i.e. search string) to find all documents whose Name or Keywords include the 

pattern of characters specified in the search string (Note that the pattern search is case 

insensitive and will match search string characters with either upper or lower case 

characters in the content name or keywords). For example, using the search string “HL7” 

in searching on the document name will display a list of all documents containing “HL7” 

in the Name data element. 

4.1.2.1 Illustration of Method 2 Document Search Using A Search 

String 

To search for documents that contain a particular text string either in the name or in the 

keyword fields of the document, a user would use Method 2, selecting either “Document 

Name” or “Document Keywords,” as shown in Figure 13, and enter the text-string to be 

matched against the document’s Name or Keywords. 

Figure 13 Sample Document Query Using Method 2 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 16 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 17 

Clicking on “Search (Method 2)” will result in listing documents where the string “smart 

card” can be found in the document name. If there no documents satisfy this search, the 

result page will say “No Matching Content.” 

4.1.3 Finding All Documents with the Same Indexed Element and Value 

Note that in the Document shown in Figure 14, the data elements “Document Type”, 

“Document Status”, and “HealthCare Domain(s)” have content values that are all 

displayed as active hyperlinks. Clicking a hyperlinked value associated with any of the 

three indexed elements will bring up a list of all other Documents that also include that 

particular element value. This provides an easy way to find all other Documents 

containing a specific value for any indexed term. 

For example, in Figure 14, the document "HL7 Messaging" is associated with multiple 

healthcare domains, including Insurance, Accounting, and others, all of which appear as 

hyperlinks when viewing the "HL7 Messaging" document. By clicking on one of these 

hyperlinks, a list of the names of all other documents in the Landscape that are associated 

with that selected healthcare domain value will found and displayed. Document names in 

the displayed list can then be selected to view the information content of the Document. 
Figure 14 Contents of Document “HL7 Messaging” 

For example, in Figure 14, if the user clicks on “Insurance” in the HC Domain entry in 

the “HL7 Messaging” document, the HCSL system will retrieve and display the names of 

all other documents that include “Insurance” in the healthcare domain entry, as shown 

below in Figure 15. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 18 
Figure 15 List of Documents having the HealthCare Domain “Insurance” 

Finding documents by healthcare domains is described further in Section 4.6. 

4.1.4 Browse a Document’s Relationships 

Similar to finding documents by Healthcare Domain, as shown in the previous example, 

Figure 14, clicking the “Browse Relationship” link, will display any relationships that 

may exist between the current Document and any other Documents, Organizations, or 

Portfolios in the Landscape, as shown in Figure 16. If relationships exist with other 

content objects, the names of these objects will be displayed as hyperlinks, and can be 

clicked to view their content. Later, in Section 4.4, “Search for Content by 

Relationships,” a method for searching and finding content that have a given relationship 

between them will be described. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 19 
Figure 16 Examples of Relationships for HL7 Organization 

4.2 Search for Organizations 

Searching for Organizations in the Landscape is similar to searching for Documents. In 

searching for Organizations, there are also two indexed date elements and two search 

methods: Boolean, and String search methods: 

For "Organizations," HCSL indexes the data elements: 

• Organization Type 

• Health Care Domain 

By clicking on the “Search Content” menu and then on “Organizations” submenu, as 

shown in Figure 6, the “Organization Search” page will appear, as shown in Figure 17. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 20 
Figure 17 Organization Query Using Search Method 1 and Default Value “ALL” 

Each Organization search method is described below, followed by examples: 

Method 1 – Boolean Query: The user can browse for “ALL” Organizations using the 

default value of “ALL” for the two indexed data elements “Organization” and “Health 

Care Domains,” as shown in Figure 17. Alternatively, the user may search for particular 

Organizations by selecting specific values from the list for “Organization Type” and for 

“Health Care Domains,” and combining these with “AND” or “OR” conditions, to form a 

Boolean query using the indexed elements and selected values. 

Multiple values may also be selected for the indexed data elements in the query 

expression. To select multiple values, simply hold the control-key (Ctrl) down while 

making selections from a list. For example, the user can select one or more indexed 

values for “Organization Type”, select one or more indexed values for “Health Care 

Domains,” choose “AND” or “OR” as the condition between these two indexed terms, 

and then click the “Search (Method 1)” button. Note that if multiple values are selected 

from the “Health Care Domains” list, these values may further be combined in either an 

“OR” or “AND” expression for the query. Examples are illustrated in the following 

Sections. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 21 
Method 2 – Pattern Search Using a Search String: The user can search using a search 

string to find all Organizations whose name or keywords include the pattern of characters 

in the search string (search is case insensitive). 

4.2.1 Illustration of Method 1 Boolean Query Using “ALL” 

This example illustrates searching for Organizations using Method 1 and the default 

value of “ALL” for Organization Type and Health Care Domain, as shown previously in 

Figure 17. By clicking on “Search (method 1),” a list will be displayed of the names of 

all Organizations in the Landscape. To view a particular Organization, simply select the 

Organization name by clicking on it. The content for the selected organization will be 

displayed. 

4.2.2 Illustration of Method 1 Boolean Queries Using Specific Values 

By selecting specific values from the indexed terms “Organization Type” AND “Health 

Care Domain,” only those Organizations in the Landscape that contain those data values 

for these terms will be displayed. By holding the control-key (Ctrl) down, multiple 

values from each data element list can be used for the search criteria. 

This example, as shown in Figure 18, illustrates a Boolean query using the search-terms 

and specific values of: 

Organization Type = “Military” AND 

Health Care Domains = “Biology” 

By clicking on “Search (method 1),” a list of organizations that are both “Military” and 

associated with the “Health Care Domain” of “Biology” will be displayed. If there are 

no organizations that satisfy this query, the result page will say “No Matching Content.” 

Figure 18 Organization Query Using Search Method 1 and Specific Index-Term Values 

The next example, as shown in Figure 19, illustrates a Boolean query using the searchterms and specific values of: 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 22 
Organization Type = “Military” OR 

HealthCare Domains = “Biology” 

Figure 19 Organization Query Using Search Method 1 and “OR” Between Indexed Terms 

By clicking on “Search (method 1),” a list of organizations that are either “Military” or 

that have the “Health Care Domain” value of “Biology” will be displayed. If there are 

no organizations that satisfy this query, the result page will say “No Matching Content.” 

4.2.3 Illustration of Method 2 Organization Search Using a Search String 

Search Method 2 allows searching for an organization by name using a search string. As 

shown in Figure 20, the user can type in the text string (e.g., HL7) and click on “Search 

(method 2).” 

Figure 20 Organization Query Using Search Method 2 

This will result in a list of organizations in the Landscape that include the text-string 

“HL7” in the organization name. If there are no organizations that satisfy this search, the 

result page will say “No Matching Content.” 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 23 
4.2.4 Finding All Organizations with the Same Indexed Element and 

Value 

When the content for an organization is displayed, the data elements “Browse 

Relationship(s)”, “Organization Type”, and “Health Care Domain(s)” have values that 

are shown as active hyperlinks. Similar to a Document, clicking on any of these links 

allows for quickly finding Relationships with other Landscape objects, or finding other 

Organizations that include the value selected for an indexed data element. Browsing 

organizations by healthcare domains is described further in Section 4.6. 

4.2.5 Browse an Organization’s Relationships 

Similar to browsing a Document’s relationships, as described previously in Section 4.1.4, 

an Organization’s relationships with other content may be viewed by clicking the 

“Browse Relationship” link in the Organization being displayed. If relationships with 

other content objects exist, the names of these objects will be displayed as hyperlinks that 

may be clicked to access and view the object’s content. Later, in Section 4.4, “Search for 

Content by Relationships,” a method for searching and finding content that has a given 

relationship between them will be described. 

4.3 Search for Portfolios 

The Portfolio object does not use any indexed data elements and only uses a search string 

to find Portfolios whose name contains the string, as shown in Figure 21. By clicking on 

the “Search Content“ menu, and then the “Portfolios” submenu, as shown earlier in 

Figure 6, the “Portfolio Search” page will appear, as shown below: 

Figure 21 Portfolio Search Screen 

If the “Search” button is selected without entering a search string, the search will return a 

list of all the Portfolio names in the Landscape repository. Selecting any item in this list 

will display the information content for the selected Portfolio. 

4.3.1 Illustration of Portfolio Search Using a Search String 

If the user wishes to search for a specific Portfolio (e.g., HL7), the user can type in the 

text string and click on Search, as shown in Figure 22 below. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 24 
Figure 22 Sample Portfolio Search Using Search String of “HL7” 

This search will find and display all Portfolios whose name contains the string “HL7,” as 

shown in Figure 23 (in this example only the HL7 Portfolio matches the search string): 

Figure 23 Results of Portfolio Search Using the Search String “HL7” 

To view the contents of the HL7 Portfolio, simply click on the text “HL7 Portfolio” and 

the contents of the HL7 Portfolio entry will be shown, as in Figure 24 below: 

Figure 24 Content of “HL7” Portfolio 

4.3.2 Browse a Portfolio’s Relationships 

Similar to browsing relationships for Documents and Organizations, a Portfolio’s 

relationships with other content may be displayed by clicking the “Browse Relationships” 

link in the Portfolio being viewed. If relationships with other content objects exist, the 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 25 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 26 

names of these objects will be displayed as hyperlinks that may be clicked to access and 

view the object’s content. In Section 4.4, “Search for Content by Relationships,” a 

method for searching and finding content that has a given relationship between them will 

be described. 

4.4 Search for Content by Relationships 

As described in Section 2, the HCSL supports searching based on Relationships that may 

exist between any two HCSL objects. Relationships can be defined among content 

objects in the Landscape, and Relationships can be used to search and find content having 

a given relationship between them. Different types of Relationships can be defined 

between Organization, Document, and Portfolio objects. Defining Relationships is 

described later in Section 6.4.1, “Adding a Relationship Between Content.” This Section, 

however, describes how to use Relationships to search for content in the Landscape. 

Relationships are defined among pairs of HCSL objects, as follows: 

• Document-to-Document 

• Document-to-Organization (or Organization-to-Document) 

• Document-to-Portfolio (or Portfolio-to-Document) 

• Organization-to-Organization 

• Organization-to-Portfolio (or Portfolio-to-Organization) 

• Portfolio-to-Portfolio 

Any one of the HCSL object-types may be associated with another object-type through a 

named Relationship that describes a logical association that may exist between these 

objects. When searching by Relationships, the HCSL provides a drop-down list of 

Relationships that a user may select from to describe a relationship to be used in 

searching for HCSL content having that relationship between them. 

For example, the named Relationship "develops" can be used to associate an Organization 

with Documents (e.g., standards, guidelines) that it develops, e.g. the organization HL7 

develops HL7 Messaging standards. An Organization object may have a Relationship 

with one or more Document objects that include develops, uses, or manages, where each 

of these terms describe a type of Relationship between an Organization and a Document. 

Similarly, the Relationship “includes” may be used between a Portfolio object and one or 

more Document objects to indicate Documents that are members of that Portfolio. 

Similarly, the Relationships, develops, manages, or uses, may be used between an 

Organization object and a Portfolio object to describe the type of Relationship between 

that Organization and its Portfolio. 

A complete list of available Relationships in HCSL is shown in Section 6.4.3, Table 1. 

A Relationship search begins by clicking on the “Search Content“ menu and selecting 

“Relationships” on the Main Menu (see Figure 6), which displays the “Relationship 

Search” page, shown below in Figure 25: 
Figure 25 Selecting Object Types for a Relationship Search 

Using the radio buttons, shown in Figure 25, a user selects a pair of object-types to be 

used in the relationship search. In this example, the Organization and Document type of 

objects have been selected. When the “Select” button is clicked, the “Relationship 

Search” screen appears, as shown in Figure 26. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 27 
Figure 26 Selecting Source and Target Objects and Relationship(s) 

From this screen, a user selects: a) a specific instance of an Organization from the 

“Source entity” field, b) the specific type of relationship(s) from the “Relationship” field, 

and c) the specific instance(s) of a Document record from the “Target document” field. 

In the above example, the selections are: ADA - American Dental Association as the 

Organization, Adopts as the Relationship, and Any Document as the “Target document.” 

Clicking the “Search” Button initiates and displays the search results. Clicking the 

“Clear” Button resets the selected choices. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 28 
Figure 27 shows the display when the Relationship specified between the objects is not 

found. Figure 28 shows the display when the specified Relationship exists between the 

objects and has been found. 

A hyperlink, shown in both Figures below, is also provided to view all Relationships that 

may exist for the selected “Source entity.” In this example, the ADA Organization is the 

“Source entity,” and clicking the hyperlink would allow a user to view all Relationships 

between the ADA Organization and any other objects, if they exist. 

Figure 27 Search Results for “Relationship Not Found” 

When Relationships exists, they are displayed as shown in Figure 28. In this example, 

the screen displays the results of a Relationship search in which the selected Relationship 

was develops (viz. ADA develops Any Document). 

Figure 28 Search Results for “Relationship Found” 

On this screen, the user may click on any of the Documents (hyperlinks) that ADA 

develops to view the contents of those Documents. 

Similarly, Relationship searches may be done for other pairs of object-types and 

relationships to find content having those Relationships between them. For example, a 

Relationship search may be done for “Any Organization” that Adopts “Any Portfolio” to 

view all Organizations that have adopted a Portfolio. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 29 
menu. This will display a list of Landscape Groups, as illustrated 

Figure 29 below: 

4.5 Browse Groups and Subgroups 

A user may view a list of the all Groups and Subgroups that are currently defined in the 

Landscape by selecting the “Search Content” menu on the Main Menu, Figure 6, and the 

“Browse Groups” subin

igure 29 List of Landscape Groups (Partial) 

 “+” sign for any Subgroup (e.g. ONC) will reveal any of its Sub-Subgroups, 

nd so on. 

F

The names of the Groups are displayed in a “tree-structure” that can be expanded or 

closed by clicking on the “+” sign for any item in the list. For example, clicking on the 

“+” sign for the “HHS” Group will reveal any of its Subgroups, as shown in Figure 30. 

Clicking the

a

Figure 30 Expanded Lists of the HHS Group and Subgroups 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 30 
 

By clicking on the Group or Subgroup name (hyperlink), further information about that 

Group or Subgroup will be displayed, e.g. Group Administrator, Members, etc., as shown 

in Figure 31 for the “NIST” Group in the Landscape. 

igure 31 Group Information Display – NIST 

submitted (i.e. “owned”) by members 

f the Group or Subgroup, as shown in Figure 32. 

F

By clicking on a persons name (hyperlink), a user can view contact information for 

Group members and see a list of content entered or 

o

igure 32 Information Display for a Group/Subgroup Member 

(hyperlinks) shown in the display will display 

e information content for that object. 

y be 

 the 

F

Similarly, clicking on any content names 

th

4.6 Browse HealthCare Domains 

In the Landscape, Documents and Organizations entered into the Landscape ma

associated or classified by various “HealthCare Domains” that are listed in the 

Landscape. When either a Document or Organization is first added to, or updated in

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 31 
Landscape, one or more values for the “HealthCare Domain” data element may be 

selected from a drop-down list to associate or classify that object with those values. A

was explained previously in Sections 

s 

a 

y get a list of other objects of that type that include the 

ame healthcare domain value. 

Care 

rowse the entire list of HealthCare 

omain values, as shown in Figure 33 below: 

4.1.3 and 4.2.4, when viewing the content for 

Document or Organization object a user may click on any healthcare domain value 

displayed as a hyperlink to quickl

s

Alternatively, a user may select the “Search Content” menu and the “Browse Health

Domains” sub-menu, as shown in Figure 6, to b

D

 the 

 clicking the “Document(s)” link for the “Accounting/Billing” healthcare 

omain. 

Figure 33 List of HealthCare Domains (partial listing) 

By clicking on a “Document(s)” or “Organization(s)” hyperlink, as shown in Figure 33, a 

listing of all Documents or Organizations in the Landscape that are associated with the 

corresponding healthcare domain (value) will be displayed. Shown in Figure 34, are

results for

d

Figure 34 List of Documents with the HC Domain “Accounting/Billing” 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 32 
Similarly, clicking the “Organizations(s)” link, associated with the HealthCare Domain 

“Accounting/Billing,” displays a list of all Organizations in the Landscape associated 

with this domain, as shown in Figure 35. 

ure 35 List of Organizations with the HC Domain “Accounting/Billing” 

anage content, or manage Groups (or Subgroups), 

embers, and content. The Landscape defines seven primary types of users, each having 

spe c associated with the user role. These are described 

furt n

Wit sociated 

role n

• istered with the Landscape.

• dministrator (GA) - a Group member who has been designated by the 

• ho has joined a Subgroup of the 

• or (SGA) - a Group member who has been designated by 

the Group Administrator to manage a Subgroup.

ging 

Each of these Landscape user types is discussed further in the following Sections, 

together with the concept of Groups and Subgroups, which are related to the users who 

are members or administrators of these Groups and Subgroups. 

Fig

5 Users, Roles, Registration, Groups and Subgroups 

A Landscape user is a person who uses the Landscape to either browse/search for 

content, add, update, delete and m

m

cific apabilities and privileges 

her i the following sections: 

5.1 Landscape User Types 

hin the Landscape, there are several classes or types of users, each with as

s a d privileges. The different types of Landscape users are: 

• Anonymous User (AU) - any non-registered user of the Landscape. 

Registered User (RU) - a user who has reg

• Group Member (GM) – a registered user who has joined a Group.

Group A

System Administrator to manage a Group.

Subgroup Member (SGM) – a Group member w

Group.

Subgroup Administrat

• System Administrator (SA) - a person with overall responsibility for mana

the Landscape system.

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 33 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 34 

5.2 Landscape Groups and Subgroups 

The Landscape supports creation of user Groups and Subgroups, which is described in 

more detail in Section 7, “Establishing and Managing Groups and Subgroups.” Briefly, 

however, Groups are identified by a Group name and have their own members, one of 

whom may be designated as the Group Administrator. Each Group may have its own 

Group content (i.e., information) that is managed and controlled by the Group members. 

Each Group may be further organized into Subgroups, which in turn may have their own 

Subgroups (i.e., sub-subgroups), and so on, reflecting a hierarchical organizational 

structure. The hierarchy of a Group may extend many levels deep. In practice, a typical 

organization is likely to only extend from three (3) to five (5) levels deep. However, 

some organizations may have a more extensive sub-structure; e.g., committee, 

subcommittee, working group, sub-working group, task group, subtask group, and special 

interest group. The Landscape can support simple to more complex organizational 

structures. 

5.2.1 Types of Membership in Groups and Subgroups 

Within a Group and Subgroup, there are different types of user membership designations, 

each having specific roles and privileges. The user membership types are described 

below: 

• A Group Member is a Registered User that is a member of one or more Groups. 

• A Group Administrator is a Group Member authorized by the System 

Administrator to be the Administrator of the Group. 

• A Subgroup Member is a Group Member who has requested to join a Sub-Group, 

and who has been approved by the Subgroup Administrator. 

• A Subgroup Administrator is a Member of a Group and Subgroup who is 

authorized by the Group Administrator, or Systems Administrator, to be the 

Administrator of the Subgroup. 

Since Subgroups may be established under Subgroups, as well as under Groups, the 

concept of Subgroup member types also extends to members of subordinate Subgroups, 

as required. 

5.3 User Roles and Privileges 

Each type of user can be thought of as having a “role” in the Landscape with associated 

privileges regarding administrative or content management functions they can perform 

that affect Landscape content, users, or groups. These roles and privileges are described 

below for each type of user (Note, see Appendix D - User Roles and Privileges” for 

further information). 

5.3.1 System Administrator (SA) 

The System Administrator (i.e. Landscape Administrator or “Root” Administrator) is 

responsible for overall management, operation, maintenance, and use of the Landscape 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 35 

system to ensure the Landscape performs satisfactorily. This includes management of the 

hardware, software, data, users, groups, and group/subgroup administrators. 

5.3.2 Anonymous User (AU) 

An Anonymous User may browse and view unrestricted or public content in the 

Landscape. They do not have a user name and password, and cannot login to the 

Landscape. An Anonymous User may register to become a Registered User of the 

Landscape. 

5.3.3 Registered User (RU) 

An Anonymous User may register with the Landscape to become a Registered User by 

completing and submitting a Landscape Registration Form online (see Section 5.4). 

Registration includes setting a username and password, and providing contact 

information. Upon successful submission of the Registration form, the user is 

automatically registered and may immediately login to the Landscape with their login 

name and password. By default, a Registered User is automatically made a member of 

the “Guest” Group, and can only login to the Guest Group (see Section 5.5.1). 

Upon logging into the Guest Group, a “Guest” User can browse and search the 

Landscape, similar to an Anonymous User, but may not add or manage content in the 

Landscape. However, “Guest” Users are presented with a new Menu item, called 

“Member Area,” that provides additional menu selections that allow them to a) change 

personal information (“My Settings”), b) join other Groups (“Join a Group”), or c) 

establish a new Group (“Create a Group”). These features are described further in 

Sections 5.6 and 7.1, respectively. 

A Registered User can request to join one or more Groups or Subgroups. When a Group 

or System Administrator approves a user request to join their Group or Subgroup, a 

Registered User becomes a Group Member with associated privileges. These features are 

described further in Section 5.6 and 5.7. 

A Registered User may also create a new Group by selecting the “Create a Group” 

selection under the “Member Area” menu. This feature is described in Section 7.1. 

5.3.4 Group Member (GM) 

A Group Member is a Registered User of the Landscape who is an approved member of 

one or more Groups, other than the Guest Group. A Group Member may login to a 

Group with a unique username and a password, where they may change their password, 

add and manage their content in the Group, and make content relationships. A Group 

Member may modify and delete any content and relationships that they have submitted 

(i.e. content they “own”). A Group Member may change the default content permissions, 

as set by the Group Administrator, for viewing and modifying content that they 

submitted, and may transfer “ownership” of their content to another Group member. A 

Group Member may request to join Subgroups within their Group, or other Groups in the 

Landscape. A Group Member may also remove themselves from a Group. 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 36 

5.3.5 Group Administrator (GA) 

A Group Administrator is a Group Member, who authorizes or refuses Group 

membership requests, sets the default content access-control permissions for Group 

Members, adds or removes Subgroups, and authorizes Subgroup Administrators (see 

Section 7). The System Administrator designates the Registered User who established 

the Group to be the initial Group Administrator. The Group Administrator can only be 

removed and/or replaced by another Group Member, by the System Administrator. 

5.3.6 Subgroup Member (SGM) 

A Subgroup Member is a member of a parent Group who has requested to join a 

Subgroup within a Group, and who has been approved as a Subgroup Member by the 

Subgroup Administrator. In general, a Subgroup Member’s privileges are similar to 

those of a Group Member, but within their Subgroup. Since Subgroups may be divided 

into further “sub-subgroups,” and so on in a descending hierarchical fashion, the 

subgroup membership process may be repeated for each subordinate subgroup, as group 

and subgroup members request to join lower-level subgroups. 

5.3.7 Subgroup Administrator (SGA) 

A Subgroup Administrator is a member of a parent Group or Subgroup who has been 

designated by the Group or Subgroup Administrator to be the Administrator of a 

subordinate Subgroup. In general, the Administrators of Subgroups have the same 

responsibilities and privileges for their Subgroups, as do the Administrator s for their 

parent Groups or Subgroups. This allows a hierarchical structure of subgroups to be 

established, each having their own Administrators who are drawn from a parent group or 

subgroup. The Subgroup Administrator can be removed and/or replaced by another 

Group/Subgroup Member, by the Group Administrator. 

5.4 User Registration 

Landscape registration allows an Anonymous User to set up an account within HCSL and 

select a unique username and password for identification and login purposes, as described 

below. A user may register with the Landscape by selecting the “Register” menu 

selection from the Main Menu (see Figure 5), and by completing and submitting the 

“User Registration” form, shown in Figure 36. 
Figure 36 User Registration Form 

5.4.1 Separate HCSL User Accounts 

Note that a user may register in the Landscape more than once and set up separate 

accounts, each with a different username and password. Each username, however, must 

be unique within HCSL. For example, a user may set up separate accounts for each 

Group they belong to as a member, and use a different username and password when 

logging into different Groups. Each user account is treated as a unique, separate user in 

the Landscape for the purposes of log in, Group membership, and content control. For 

example, a user with two separate accounts (i.e. different usernames) that are used for 

logging into separate Groups can only manage their content within the Group that they 

logged into using one of the user accounts. Alternatively, a user may use a single 

username and password (i.e. single login account) for all Groups that they belong to as a 

member. 

5.5 Registered User Login to HCSL 

Once a user has registered with HCSL, they are automatically placed within the Guest 

Group and may log in to HCSL using their username and password. As described earlier 

in Section 5.3.3, a “Guest” User (i.e. a member of the Guest Group) may search the 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 37 
Landscape for content, request to join other Groups within the Landscape, or request that 

a new Group be established. Guest Users, however, may not add or manage content 

within the Guest Group (Note, a member of an HCSL Group, other than the “Guest” 

Group, may add, update, or delete information content within those Group, or 

Subgroups, to which they belong). To add and manage content, a Registered User in the 

Guest Group must first join or create another Group. A Registered User may also join 

one or more Groups, and Group members may join one or more Subgroups within a 

Group. These features are discussed further in Sections 5.6 and 5.7. 

The “Login/Logout” button on the Main Menu (see Figure 37) enables a Registered User 

(Guest or Group member) to login and logout of a Group or Subgroup to which they 

belong as a member. The following sections describe the Login process for logging into 

the Guest Group, or into other Landscape Groups and Subgroups. 

5.5.1 Login to Guest Group 

A Registered User can select the “Login/Logout” menu selection, shown previously in 

Figure 5, and enter their Username and Password to login using the form shown in Figure 

37. By default, a Registered User is automatically a member of the Guest Group, and can 

only login to the Guest Group, as shown in Figure 38. When the “Submit” button is 

clicked, the user will be logged in to the Guest Group. 

Figure 37 Login Screen for Registered Users 

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Figure 38 Guest Group Login Screen for Registered User 

Note that if a user forgets their password, they may click the “Forgot your password?”

link shown in Figure 37, and a new password will be emailed to them. 

Once logged in, the HCSL provides additional menu items for Guest Users, as shown in 

Figure 39, which includes the additional “Member Area” menu selections, cited 

previously for Registered Users in Section 5.3.3. These menu selections will be 

described further in the following sections. 

Figure 39 Main Menus Showing “Member Area” Menu Selections for Registered “Guest” Users. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 39 
5.5.2 Login to a Group or Subgroup 

The “Login/Logout” menu on the main Menu (see Figure 39) enables a Registered User 

(Guest User) or Group Member to login and logout of a Group or Subgroup to which they 

belong (e.g. Guest Group for a Guest User). The login/logout process for any Group is 

similar to that for the Guest Group, described above in Section 5.5.1. 

To Login to a Group or Subgroup, a user selects the “Login/Logout” menu on the Main 

Menu, enters their username and password, and then selects one of the displayed Groups 

or Subgroups that they belong to as a member. Only Groups and Subgroups that a user is 

a member of will be displayed in the list of Groups and Subgroups. The user must select 

a Group or Subgroup in order to complete the log in process. If the user is a member of 

more than one Group, he/she may log in to a Group and then switch to another Group 

later (see Section 6.1.4). Figure 40 and Figure 41 show the two display forms used to log 

into an HCSL Group or Subgroup. 

Figure 40 Login Screen to Enter Username and Password 

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Figure 41 Select Group or Subgroup Screen – Login continued 

In the example shown in Figure 41, a user is shown a list of Groups and Subgroups that 

they are members of for selection. The user can select and log into any of these Groups 

or Subgroups. Note, that Groups and their Subgroups are displayed as an indented 

hierarchy. Groups and Subgroups, for which the user is an Administrator, are displayed 

in bold text, while those Groups or Subgroups, in which the user is only a member, are 

displayed as normal text. 

After selecting a Group or Subgroup and clicking the “Submit” button (not shown in the 

figure), the user will be logged into the selected Group or Subgroup and presented with a 

new Main Menu containing additional options for adding and managing content, and 

other capabilities, as shown in Figure 42. The Main Menu features for Group/Subgroup 

members will be discussed further in Section 6. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 41 
Figure 42 Main Menu Selections for a Group/Subgroup Member 

5.5.3 Log Out of a Group or Subgroup 

The Logout screen, Figure 43, is simply a “Logout” button. Clicking it will log the user 

out of a Group or Subgroup, with a brief message that Logout has been completed. The 

user will then be returned to the “Welcome” screen. 

Figure 43 Logout 

5.6 Joining an HCSL Group 

To join an HCSL Group, a Registered User: 

 Logs into the Guest Group, or another Group or Subgroup, to which they belong, 

and selects the "Join a Group" selection under the "Member Area" menu item. 

This will display a list of all Landscape Groups, as shown in Figure 44. 

 From the displayed list of Groups, the user selects a Group to join and clicks 

"Submit." 

 The user will receive a confirmation message, as shown in Figure 45, indicating 

that the request has been sent by email to the Group (or Subgroup) Administrator. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 42 
 The request is automatically be sent by email to the Group Administrator, who 

accepts or refuses the request, and subsequently notifies the user by email. 

 When accepted, the user can login to HCSL and the Group, to add and manage 

their information content within the Group. 

Figure 44 Selecting an HCSL Group to Join 

Figure 45 Join a Group – Request Sent Notification Message 

5.7 Joining an HCSL Subgroup 

A Registered User, who is a member of a Group, or Subgroup, may request to join any 

Subgroups that exist under a Group or Subgroup of which they are members. The 

process for doing this is described below, first for joining a Subgroup under a Group, and 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 43 
then for joining a Subgroup under a Subgroup, of which they are members. Leaving a 

Group/Subgroup is described later in Section 6.1.2.1. 

5.7.1 Joining a Subgroup within a Group 

A member of a Group may request to join any of its Subgroups, as follows: 

 First join a Group, as described above. 

 Login to any Group for which you are a member, as described previously. 

 Select the "Join a Group" selection under the "Member Area" menu item. 

 If the Group has Subgroups, these will be displayed for the user to select. 

 Select a Subgroup to join, and "Submit" the request. (The request will be sent by 

email to the Subgroup Administrator, who accepts or refuses the request, and 

notifies the user by email). When the request is submitted, the user will receive a 

confirmation alert, as shown in Figure 45, indicating that the request has been sent 

by email to the Subgroup Administrator. 

 When accepted, the user can login to HCSL and the Subgroup, to add and manage 

their content within that Subgroup. 

Figure 46 below, is an example of available Landscape Subgroups (and other Groups) 

that a member of the “ANSI” Group may join. In this example, the “ANSI” Group has 

three Subgroups under it that the user may request to join by selecting a Subgroup and 

clicking the “Submit” button (not shown in the figure). 

Figure 46 Join a Subgroup Display 

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5.7.2 Joining a Subgroup within a Subgroup 

Joining a Subgroup under a parent Subgroup is similar to joining a Subgroup under a 

Group, as was described above. The steps are as follows: 

 First join a Subgroup, as described above. 

 Login to any Subgroup for which you are a member, as described previously. 

 Select the "Join a Group" selection under the "Member Area" menu item. 

 If the Subgroup has further Subgroups, these will be displayed for the user to 

select. Select a Subgroup to join, and "Submit" the request (the request will be 

sent by email to the Subgroup Administrator, who accepts or refuses the request, 

and notifies the user by email). 

 When accepted, a user can login to HCSL and the Subgroup for adding and 

managing their content within that Subgroup. Note that a user can login directly 

to a Subgroup; they do not need to first log into a parent Group or Subgroup.

5.7.3 Create a Group 

The “Create a Group” capability is discussed further in Sections 6.1.7 and 7.1. 

6 Menus for Group and Subgroup Members 

When a Registered User logs in to a Group (except for the Guest Group) or a Subgroup, a 

new Main Menu is displayed with additional capabilities under the menus “Member 

Area” and “Add Content,” as shown in Figure 47. These new capabilities are described 

in the following Sections. 

Figure 47 Main Menu Selections for a Group/Subgroup Member 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 45 
6.1 Member Area Menu Selections 

Registered users, whether Guest Users or members of a Group or Subgroup, are provided 

with the “Member Area” menu selection, as described previously. However, Guest 

Users, who are members of the default Guest Group, are only provided with a limited set 

of submenus or options, as illustrated previously in Figure 39, while members of all other 

Groups or Subgroups, are provided with additional menu features under the “Member 

Area” menu. These new menu features enable management of Groups and Subgroups, 

and their content. 

Figure 48 shows the full menu selections available to Group and Subgroup members 

under the “Member Area” menu selection. The capabilities of each selection under the 

“Member Area” menu are described in the following subsections. 

Figure 48 “Member Area” Menu Selections for a Group/Subgroup Member 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 46 
6.1.1 My Content Menu Selection 

Selecting the “My Content” menu selection under the “Member Area” menu displays the 

entire collection of content submitted, or owned, by the member, within that Group or 

Subgroup. For example, in Figure 49, selecting the “My Content” menu by a member of 

the DHHS Group displays their content as shown below: 

Figure 49 “My Content” Display Listing Member Content 

User content, if it exists, is grouped and listed by Document, Organization, and Portfolio 

content. For this example and user, Figure 49, the names of seven Document Objects and 

one Organization object are shown; however, Portfolio content was absent and is not 

shown. By clicking on any of these links, a user may view the data content for the 

selected object. 

6.1.1.1 Change Content Permissions 

Typically, most Landscape content can be accessed and viewed by all users as “public” 

content. However, a content owner or an Administrator of a Group/Subgroup may make 

their content “private,” to restrict viewing to only the content owner, or to other 

Group/Subgroup members. Similarly, updating or deleting of content may be limited to 

the content owner, or shared with other Group/Subgroup members. The content owner 

may also transfer ownership of their content to another member of the Group/Subgroup, 

and may restrict whether other users can make relationships with their content. The 

following describes how content owners may change permissions for their content, and 

choosing whether other users can make relationships with their content, by using the 

forms and options that are displayed upon selecting the “My Content” menu selection. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 47 
Figure 49 shows member content as a result of selecting the “My Content” menu 

selection. Note the padlock icon shown to the left of the content names listed in Figure 

49. By clicking this icon, a screen is displayed, shown in Figure 50, which allows the 

user to change the access permissions on content the user owns, for members of the a) 

Group/Subgroup, b) parent Group/Subgroup, or, c) other users of the Landscape. 

Figure 50 “My Content Submenu” – Change Content Permissions or Transfer Ownership 

Figure 50 shows the default content permissions (checkboxes), as set by the 

Administrator of the Group/Subgroup. These default permissions are applied when a 

member adds new content to the Group/Subgroup, and remain in effect unless modified 

by the owner of the content using the above form. 

For example, as shown above, the default permissions for the selected content are: 

• READ for all users of the Landscape 

• UPDATE and DELETE privileges only for the content owner. 

By toggling the checkboxes for UPDATE and DELETE, other members of the same 

Group/Subgroup as the content owner would also be given permission to update and/or 

delete this content. Upon clicking the “Change Permissions” button, the permissions will 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 48 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 49 

be changed accordingly. Note, however, that update and delete permissions may not be 

extended to users outside of this Group or Subgroup. 

The content owner may also re-apply the default Group/Subgroup content permissions by 

selecting the “Set to default permissions” button. 

6.1.1.2 Transfer Content Ownership 

The Group/Subgroup member may also transfer ownership of their content to another 

member of their Group/Subgroup by selecting a user name from the drop-down list and 

clicking on the “Transfer” button, as shown in Figure 50. Note that when content 

ownership is transferred to another member of the Group/Subgroup, the new owner has 

full control over the disposition of that content, since the former owner has relinquished 

control over that content to the new owner. 

6.1.1.3 Set Relationship Permissions 

In Figure 50, the “Allow Relationships” feature enables a content owner to allow or 

disallow relationships to be made with their content by other content owners in the 

Landscape. When a content owner adds new content, the default is to always allow 

others to make relationships between their content and the content being added (i.e. the 

“Always” radio button is checked in Figure 50). However, a content owner may change 

the default to the “If shared” option, or to the “Never” option, by selecting the 

corresponding radio-buttons, shown in Figure 50. The “If shared” option indicates that a 

relationship may be made with the owner’s content, only if a relationship made by 

another content owner allows both parties to update or delete the relationship being made. 

If not, the other content owner will be prevented from making a relationship between 

their content and the content having the “If shared” option. 

When the “Never” option is selected, other content owners are prevented from making 

relationships between their content and the content having the “Never” option. 

These relationship options and features are described further in Section 6.4

6.1.2 My Group Menu Selection 

Selecting the “My Group” menu will display information about a Group/Subgroup for 

Group Members, as shown in the example, Figure 51. In Section 7, “Establishing and 

Managing Groups and Subgroups,” additional features provided for Group 

Administrators will also be discussed. A brief description of the “My Group” menu for 

the example below follows: 

• The top section of Figure 51, indicates which Group/Subgroup a user is currently 

signed-in to (Group “DHHS” in the figure), and whether the user is signed-in as a 

Member, or as the Administrator, of the Group/Subgroup. 

• A link is also provided for a user to remove themselves from the current 

Group/Subgroup (described in the following subsection). 
• The next section indicates the “Default Permissions,” set by the Administrator, for 

content in this Group/Subgroup. 

• The next section, “My Group Content,” provides a link to display all content 

names available within the DHHS Group. 

• The section, “My Group Members” lists the name, organization, and email 

address of all members of the Group/Subgroup. By clicking on an email link, the 

user may send an email to that member. 

• The last section, ”Subgroup(s),” lists any Subgroups that exist under the current 

Group/Subgroup, and the name of the Administrator for the Subgroup. In Figure 

51, the Subgroups AHRQ, CDC, CMS, FDA, NCVHS, NISH, NLM, and ONC 

are shown. In this example, the current Administrator of the DHHS Group and 

Subgroups is the “hcsl_admin” (Note, to request to join a Subgroup, the user 

would follow the procedures described in Section 5.7). 

Figure 51 “My Group” Information Display 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 50 
6.1.2.1 Leave a Group or Subgroup 

In the top section of Figure 51, a link is provided for a user to be removed from the 

current Group or Subgroup. When this link is selected, the user is prompted on whether 

they really want to be removed from the Group/Subgroup, as shown in Figure 52. If the 

“Remove” button is selected, the user receives a message that they have been removed 

from the Group/Subgroup, as shown in Figure 53. When removed, the user is returned to 

the “Switching to Another Group or Subgroup” form, as described in Section 6.1.4, to 

allow the user to select another Group or Subgroup to log into. 

Figure 52 “My Group Menu” – Leaving a Group or Subgroup 

Figure 53 “My Group Menu” – Leaving a Group or Subgroup – You Have Been Removed 

Important Notes: 

1. A user cannot remove himself or herself from a parent Group or Subgroup unless 

they first remove themselves from all lower-level subgroups. 

2. When a user is removed from a Group or Subgroup, content owned by the user is 

transferred to the Group or Subgroup Administrator, and remains part of the 

Group/Subgroup. 

3. An Administrator cannot remove himself or herself from a Group or Subgroup 

that they administer. They must contact the Administrator of the parent Group or 

Subgroup to request removal or replacement. Only the Administrator of the 

parent Group or Subgroup can assign, replace, or remove the Administrator of a 

"child" Subgroup. Similarly, only the HCSL Administrator can assign, replace, or 

remove an Administrator of a top-level Group. 

6.1.3 My Settings Menu Selection 

The “My Settings” menu selection allows a member of a Group/Subgroup to change their 

personal information or password, as shown in Figure 54. Any input field data may be 

changed on the form. If a new “Login” name is chosen, it must be a login name that is 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 51 
unique in the Landscape. Changes may be submitted by clicking the “Modify

Information,” or “Change your Password” button, as required. 

Figure 54 “My Settings” Display 

6.1.4 Switch Groups Menu Selection 

A user who is member of more than one Group/Subgroup can switch to another Group or 

Subgroup, using the “Switch Groups” menu selection. Figure 55 illustrates an example 

of a user currently logged in to the “Group Test,” who may switch to any Groups and 

Subgroups displayed by selecting one of the choices and clicking the “Submit” button. 

The user will then be switched to the selected Group or Subgroup and may login. 

Notes: 

1. In Figure 55, Groups and Subgroups shown as plain text indicate Groups and 

Subgroups in which the user is a member, while Groups and Subgroups shown in 

bold type indicate those in which the user is an Administrator. 

2. Displayed Groups and Subgroups are those for which the user uses the same 

account (i.e. same username and password). The user may have other accounts 

that are used with other Groups and Subgroups, which are not displayed here. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 52 
Figure 55 Switch Group 

6.1.5 Browse Groups Menu Selection 

The “Browse Groups” menu selection was previously discussed in Section 4.5. Please 

refer to this Section for an explanation and illustrations on this topic. 

6.1.6 Join Another Group Menu Selection 

The “Join Another Group” menu selection allows a Group/Subgroup member to join 

another Group or Subgroup, and was discussed previously in Section 5.6 and 5.7. Please 

refer to these Sections for an explanation and illustrations on this topic. 

6.1.7 Create a Group Menu Selection 

The “Create a Group” submenu under the “Member Area” menu, as shown previously in 

Figure 48, allows a Registered User and/or Group Member to request that the HCSL 

System Administrator establish a new top-level Group within HCSL. The user making 

the request will be assigned as the Administrator of the new Group. Further information 

on establishing and managing Groups, including Subgroups, is discussed in Section 7, 

“Establishing and Managing Groups and Subgroups.” 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 53 
6.2 Add Content Menu Selection 

The capabilities described in this section apply only to members of Groups and 

Subgroups, other than the Guest Group. 

The “Add Content” menu, as shown in Figure 56, provides capabilities to register or add 

Document, Organization, and Portfolio content descriptions, to Groups or Subgroups, and 

to make Relationships between instances of these objects. 

Users may enter content information either using input forms provided by HCSL, or 

through an XML file that is a valid instance of the XML schemas used for the content 

objects (see Section 6.5 and Appendix A - XML Schemas”). The following sections 

describe how to add content to the Landscape repository, first by using input forms, and 

then by importing an XML file or entering XML data into an input form-field. 

Figure 56 Add Content Drop-Down Menus 

6.2.1 Add a Document Instance 

Selecting the “Document” submenu, shown previously in Figure 56, allows a user to 

enter information about a document into the Landscape. Figure 57 below, shows the 

form for entering information about a Document. Each data field accepts text data (i.e. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 54 
alpha-numeric data). Certain data fields, such as, “Document type,” “Document status,” 

and “Health Care domain(s)” provide drop-down lists of values that can be selected and 

automatically indexed for use later to search for content using these fields in Boolean 

queries (see Section 4). By selecting the “Reset” button, all fields are cleared and the 

user may enter new data. 

When data-entry is complete, clicking the “Submit” button will enter the Document 

description into the repository. A message is given to the user on whether the data was 

successfully submitted or not. Upon successful submission, the user is returned to the 

“Register a Document” screen, shown in Figure 57, to allow further data entry. 

Figure 57 Register a Document Instance 

Notes: 

1. Certain data entry fields automatically expand when the user starts to enter, or 

edit/update, information. During editing or updating, scroll bars are used with 

data fields to indicate when there are more lines of information than can be 

displayed in a field. 

2. During data entry, multiple values may be selected from the drop-down lists for 

indexed data fields, as needed. Holding the shift key down while selecting 

enumerated values, allows a set of contiguous values to be selected; while holding 

the control-key down allows non-contiguous values to be selected. In this way, 

multiple values for the indexed data term can be selected for a Document and later 

used in Boolean queries to search for content containing those terms and values. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 55 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 56 

3. The “HTMLArea” link, shown near the top of Figure 57, is an editor for text and 

HTML editing, which can be used to add or update content, and its appearance, 

for many data fields using text and HTML. The “HTMLArea” editor may be 

used to develop new text, or to edit existing text by copying the text from data 

fields during updating of content (see Section 6.3), pasting it into the “HCSL 

Area” editing screen, where it can be edited, and then copying and pasting the 

edited text back into the appropriate data field of the form used for updating 

content. Further information about the “HTMLArea” editor is presented in 

Appendix E - HTMLArea Editor.” 

4. Certain character encodings may cause problems when submitting data to the 

HCSL repository. This may happen when a user cuts and pastes information from 

sources, such as web pages or Word documents, which may contain special codes. 

Special characters from these sources may cause errors in processing the entry. 

Some examples are the em-dash, en-dash, ampersand, and colon. The HCSL 

software corrects many troublesome characters by checking and “filtering” the 

input data. However, other characters may exist that can cause problems. Many 

of these problems can be avoided if content is converted to ASCII text before 

entering or copying it into the HCSL forms. Or, by avoiding use of special 

characters altogether. If special character problems should occur when submitting 

or updating content, please notify the HCSL Administrator so that they can be 

corrected. 

 

6.2.2 Add an Organization Instance 

When selected, the “Organization” submenu, shown previously in Figure 56, allows a 

user to enter information about an organization into the Landscape using an input form. 

Figure 58 shows the form for entering data describing an organization. Text data may be 

entered into these fields, many of which will expand to accommodate data entry. Similar 

to the “Document” form, certain data fields, such as, “Organization type” and “Health 

Care domain(s),” are indexed data fields that provide drop-down lists of values that may 

be selected and later used in queries to search for information in the HCSL repository. 

When data-entry is complete, the “Submit” button may be clicked to submit the data to 

the HCSL repository. A user message will indicate whether the entry was successfully 

submitted or not. Selecting the “Reset” button will clear all fields to allow new data to be 

entered. Upon successful submission, the user is returned to the “Register an 

Organization” form. 
Figure 58 Register an Organization 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 57 
6.2.3 Add a Portfolio Instance 

An HCSL “Portfolio” is a record that describes a collection of documents that are 

meaningful to those creating the Portfolio, e.g., a recommended set of standards to realize 

a specific use case; a set of standards developed, adopted or used by an organization, etc. 

For example, an organization may have selected certain use-cases, standards, and 

implementation guides as the core of their architecture, which together form their 

“standards” portfolio. This may be represented in the Landscape by a “Portfolio” object, 

which can provide descriptions of these documents and resources, for others to view. In 

addition, documents listed in a “Portfolio” may be rendered as hyperlinks to allow access 

to document descriptions in the HCSL repository, or to the actual documents at another 

web site. 

Selecting the “Portfolio” submenu, shown previously in Figure 56, allows a user to enter 

information about a portfolio into the Landscape. The “Register a Portfolio” form, 

shown in Figure 59, is used to enter and register information about a portfolio. The 

portfolio name is entered into the “Name:” field, while the collection of document titles, 

descriptions, or references are entered into the “Description:” field. The “Target 

Audiences:” field is used to identify those groups or persons likely to be interested in or 

have a stake in this “Portfolio.” The “Available at:” field can be used to enter a URL 

where further information about the “Portfolio” may be found. Clicking the “Submit” 

button submits the data to the HCSL repository, while clicking the “Reset” button clears 

all data fields to allow new data entries. 

Figure 59 Register a Portfolio 

By clicking the “HTMLArea” editor link, a user can add or edit text content, add URLs, 

or modify the appearance of text in the “Description:” field using HTML tags. The 

“HTMLArea” editor is covered in more detail in Appendix E - HTMLArea Editor.” 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 58 
6.3 Update or Delete Content 

A Group Member who owns content in a Group or Subgroup may update or delete that 

content. To do this, the user must first log in to their Group or Subgroup and then 

retrieve and display the content to be updated or deleted. Figure 60, shows the content 

for the sample document, “Test Doc – 1911 Solvey Conference.” 

Figure 60 Sample Document showing Update and Delete Controls 

Shown near the bottom of this display is an “Update” field, with an “Update this 

Document” link, and a “Delete” button. These two features are only visible or displayed 

to the owner of the document, or to Group/Subgroup members who have been given 

update/delete permissions for this document, by the document owner. 

Clicking the “Update this Document” link brings up a form, similar to the form for 

adding a new document, where the user can add or change information in any of the data 

fields, as shown for this example in Figure 61. A “Back” button is available to return to 

the previous screen. After making additions or changes, clicking the “Update” button, at 

the bottom of the screen, will update the document in the HCSL repository. Upon 

completing the Update process, the updated document is displayed to the user. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 59 
Figure 61 Form for Updating a Document 

If the “Delete” button is selected, as shown in Figure 60, the user is asked to confirm the 

selection, and if confirmed, the document is deleted from the HCSL repository. Upon 

completion of the Delete process, the user is returned to the “Document Search” form 

(see Section 4.1). 

Note that an owner of content may change the access permissions on their content, or 

transfer ownership, as was as previously described in Section 6.1.1.1 “Change Content 

Permissions.” 

6.4 Add, Update, and Delete Relationships Between Content 

Relationships are logical connections made by a user between Landscape content entities 

that provide additional information about these objects. For example, an organization 

may develop, publish or use a document or portfolio. Or an organization or may be 

related to another organization, or a document to another document. A content owner 

may add, update, or delete Relationships among content they own. 

6.4.1 Adding a Relationship Between Content 

The capability to add relationships between content in the Landscape provides additional 

information about relationships that may exist between these entities, and provides a 

useful way to search for information in the Landscape using relationships. As described 

previously, Section 4.4 explains how to search for content based on relationships with 

other content. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 60 
This section describes the steps for adding content relationships, and whether other 

content owners will be allowed to update or delete a relationship that is made with their 

content (discussed further in the next Subsection). Note that a Group/Subgroup member 

can always add relationships between content they own. However, content owners can 

only add relationships between their content and content owned by others, if other 

content owners have allowed relationships to be made with their content. This is 

explained further below. 

Selecting the “Relationship” submenu, shown before in Figure 56, enables a user to add 

relationships between their content (source content) and content of other users (target 

content) in the Landscape. A relationship can always be made between source and target

content owned by a Group Member. However, when adding a relationship with content 

owned by another Group Member, or a member of another Group, the target content 

permissions must be set to allow relationships to be made with it. This was described 

earlier in Section 6.1.1.1, and will be described further in Section 6.4.1.1. In the 

following examples, however, it is assumed that relationships can be made between all 

selected content, i.e. between source and target content. 

The process of adding a relationship involves two steps. The first step uses a form, as 

shown in Figure 62 below, to select a pair of content types that a relationship will be 

made between. 

Figure 62 Create Relationships - Select Relationship Pair (Document-to-Document illustrated) 

Using the radio-buttons shown in Figure 62, a user selects a pair of content types that 

they wish to add a relationship between. In this example, the “Document-to-Document” 

relationship was selected. As can be seen, the possible Relationships between pairs of 

content types are: 

 Document – to – Document 

 Document – to – Organization 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 61 
 Document – to – Portfolio 

 Organization – to – Organization 

 Organization – to – Document 

 Organization – to – Portfolio 

 Portfolio – to – Portfolio 

 Portfolio – to – Document 

 Portfolio – to – Organization 

After a user has selected a Relationship-pair and clicked the “Submit” button, the next 

step involves completing a second form, shown in Figure 63, to select specific content 

instances for the chosen source and target content types, and to select a specific type of 

relationship to be made between them. These selections are made from choices listed in 

the drop-down menus, as shown in Figure 63. 

Figure 63 Selecting Specific Documents and a Relationship 

In Figure 63, the first drop-down menu is used to select the source document. The next 

drop-down menu is for selecting the type of relationship to be made. And the last dropdown menu is for selecting the target document. 

In this example, the selected source and target documents, and relationship, are: “ADA 

Technical Report No. 1018 is associated with ADA Technical Report No. 1019” (these 

documents are published by the American Dental Association - ADA). 

In the next example, Figure 64, the user has selected the content pair, “Document-toOrganization,” and selected the relationship publishes between the organization ADA 

and the document, “ADA Technical Report No. 1010”; i.e. the designated relationship is, 

“ADA publishes ADA Technical Report No. 1010.” 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 62 
Figure 64 Selecting a Specific Organization to Document Relationship 

Upon successful submission, the user is returned to the “Create Relationship” form, 

Figure 62. 

 

Note that if a user attempts to submit a relationship that already exists between the 

selected content, an error message will be displayed indicating that a relationship already 

exists between the two content items. 

Note that in adding relationships, a user is responsible for ensuring that the relationship 

being made between any two content objects makes logical sense. For example, in the 

following relationships, an “organization Publishes a document” and a “document 

Is_Published_By an organization,” either relationship is possible and logical. However, 

in the relationships, an “organization Publishes a document” and a “document develops 

an organization,” only the former relationship makes logical sense. 

As described previously in Section 4.1.4, existing relationships for any content object can 

be viewed by clicking on the “Browse Relationship(s)” link that appears near the top of 

the content being displayed. Clicking this link will display any relationships that may 

exist for the content object. 

As described previously in Section 4.4, a relationship may be used to search for content, 

having that relationship with other content. 

6.4.1.1 Setting Relationship Permissions 

When adding a relationship, two radio-button options are available for controlling who 

may update or delete the relationship, as shown in Figure 62. These two options are 

shown under, “What type of permission do you want for this relationship?” The first 

option is the default option: 

• “You and the target object’s owner can update/delete the relationship,” 

And the second option is: 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 63 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 64 

• “You are the only one who can update/delete the relationship,” 

The first option allows both the owners of the source and target content to update or 

delete the relationship. The second option only allows the user adding the relationship, or 

the owner of the source content, to update or delete the relationship. 

Note, however, as was described in Section 6.1.1.1, the ability to add a relationship with 

content owned by another user depends on whether that user allows relationships to be 

made with their content. A user can always add relationships between content they own. 

However, a user can only add a relationship between content they own (source content) 

and content owned by another user (target content), providing the owner of the target 

content has allowed relationships to be made with their content. 

As was described in Section 6.1.1.1, content owners can allow or prevent relationships 

being made with their content. Recall, that a content-owner can either: 

1) Always allow relationships to be made with their content (Always - default); 

2) Conditionally allow or prevent relationships to be made with their content 

depending on whether they are also allowed to update or delete a relationship that 

is made by another user (If shared); or, 

3) Prevent any relationships from being made with their content (Never). 

In the first case, a relationship can always be made with the content. In the second case, 

a relationship can be made only if the relationship being made can be updated or deleted 

by both the owner of the source content, who is adding the relationship, and by the owner 

of the target content, who has set the If shared condition on their content. In the third 

case, the content-owner has disallowed any relationships to be made with their content. 

Figure 65 below, illustrates the conditions under which a relationship may be made by 

content-owner A, between the source content A, owned by content-owner A, and the 

target content B, owned by content-owner B: 
Figure 65 Effects of Content and Relationship Permissions on Adding a Relationship 

In this illustration, Owner A, of Content A, wants to add a relationship with Content B, 

owned by Owner B. The relationship can be made by Content-Owner A, only if the 

following conditions apply: 

• Content Owner B has not selected the option “Never” for “Allow Relationships”

for Content B; 

And either: 

• Content Owner B uses the default setting of “Always” for “Allow Relationships” 

for Content B (See Figure 50). In this case, Content Owner A may choose either 

option for updating or deleting the relationship when setting the permissions for 

“What type of permissions do you want for this relationship?” (See Figure 62); 

Or, 

• Content Owner B selects If shared for “Allow Relationships” with Content B 

(see Figure 50), and Content-Owner A selects “You and the target object’s owner 

can update/delete the relationship” when setting the permission for “What type 

of permissions do you want for this relationship?” (See Figure 62). 

Note that the permissions set for content on whether a relationship may be made with the 

content, and the permissions set for a relationship on who may update or delete the 

relationship, are independent and separate permission controls; the former on the content, 

and the latter on the relationship. Each may be set independent of the other. However, 

the ability of a user to add a relationship with content owned by other users depends on 

the settings of both permissions, as described above. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 65 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 66 

The following summarizes the possible permission options for content and relationships: 

Content Relationship Permission Options (Section 6.1.1.1)

• Can always add a relationship with content (Always). 

• Can add a relationship with content if both content owners can update or 

delete the relationship (If shared). 

• Can never add a relationship with content (Never). 

Relationship Update/Delete Permission Options (Section 6.4.1.1)

• Only the user who adds the relationship can update/delete the relationship. 

• Both the user adding the relationship and the owner of the target content can 

update/delete the relationship. 

6.4.2 Update or Delete a Relationship Between Content 

Relationships between content that have been made by a user may also be updated or 

deleted by that user. In addition, as described above, relationships whose permissions 

allow shared update and delete by owners of the content involved in the relationship, may 

also update or delete the relationship. The content owner(s) may do this by: 

• Logging in to the Group or Subgroup containing one of the content objects in the 

Relationship. 

• Displaying the content for that object, and selecting the “Browse Relationship(s)” 

link. This will display all Relationships for that object, as shown in the example for 

the “HL7 Organization” in Figure 66. In this example, Relationships are shown 

between the “HL7 Organization” instance and other Documents, Portfolios, and 

Organizations in HCSL repository. 

• Selecting the “Update” button on the right side of displayed Relationships, shown in 

Figure 66, to display an update form, shown in Figure 67, with a drop-down list of 

Relationships, from which the user may select a new relationship. 

• After choosing a relationship, selecting the “Submit” button will complete the 

change; selecting the “Back” button returns the user to the display of content 

relationships. 

• Alternatively, as shown in Figure 66, a user may select the “Delete” button next to a 

relationship to delete it. 
Figure 66 Example of Relationships for the Organization HL7 

Figure 67 Example of Updating a Relationship Between the HL7 Organization and a Document 

In this example, the Relationship between the “HL7” organization and the document 

“HL7 RIM” is being changed from “develops” to “publishes,” which was chosen from 

the drop-down list of possible Relationships from which to choose. By clicking the 

“Submit” button, the change will be made to this Relationship, and will be displayed as 

revised in the “HL7 Relationships” page, shown in Figure 66. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 67 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 68 

To delete a Relationship, a user would click the “Delete” button on the right side of the 

selected Relationship, as shown in Figure 66, and the chosen Relationship would be 

deleted between the two HCSL objects. 

6.4.3 Types of Content Relationships 

The HCSL provides for various types of Relationships to be selected and used between 

pairs of content objects. For different pairs of content-types, a corresponding set of 

Relationships are provided that describes possible logical relationships that might exist 

between these type objects. Further, when a relationship is selected between a source and 

target object, there is an inherent “direction” to the relationship between the objects that 

makes grammatically sense. 

For example, as shown previously in Figure 64, the selected relationship, publishes, is 

between an Organization (ADA) and a Document (ADA Technical Report No. 1010), i.e. 

“ADA publishes ADA Technical Report No. 1010.” It would be illogical, however, to 

add a relationship between this Document and Organization that stated, “ADA Technical 

Report No. 1010 publishes ADA.” But, it would be logical if the reverse relationship 

were stated as, “ADA Technical Report No. 1010 is published by ADA.” Hence, the 

relationship and direction should be logically consistent between the source and target 

objects to provide a “correct” semantic meaning that makes logical sense when viewing 

content relationships, or performing relationship-based searches. 

In adding relationships between pairs of objects, HCSL provides a list of Relationships 

that are logically consistent with the direction of a relationship between the selected 

source and target objects, as was illustrated in the above example. In addition, when a 

relationship is made between the source and target objects, HCSL automatically assigns a 

“reverse” or inverse relationship from the target to the source object that is consistent 

with the selected source to target relationship. 

Thus, in the example above, when a user adds the relationship “ADA publishes ADA 

Technical Report No. 1010,” the reverse relationship, “ADA Technical Report No. 1010 

is published by ADA,” is automatically made by HCSL. Hence, when viewing 

relationships for the organization “ADA” (source content), the relationship “publishes”

will be displayed associated with “ADA Technical Report No. 1010” (target content).

However, when the relationships for the document, “ADA Technical Report No. 1010,” 

(target content) are viewed, the inverse relationship, is published by, will be displayed 

associated with the “ADA” organization (source content). 

Table 1 HCSL Content Relationships and Inverse Relationships, provides a list of 

Relationships and corresponding Inverse Relationships used in the Landscape.
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 69 

Table 1 HCSL Content Relationships and Inverse Relationships 

Relationship Inverse Relationship 

adopts is adopted by 

derives is derived from 

develops is developed by 

distributes is distributed by 

has association with is associated with 

has equivalence with is equivalent to 

has liaison with is liased with 

has member is member of 

has part is part of 

has similarity with is similar to 

has version is version of 

includes is included by 

is adopted by adopts 

is associated with has association with 

is child of is parent of 

is derived from derives 

is developed by develops 

is distributed by distributes 

is equivalent to has equivalence with 

is included by includes 

is liased with has liaison with 

is maintained by maintains 

is managed by manages 

is member of has member 

is parent of is child of 

is part of has part 

is published by publishes 

is referenced by references 

is replaced by replaces 

is required by requires 

is similar to has similarity with 

is updated by updates 

is used by uses 

is version of has version 
maintains is maintained by 

manages is managed by 

publishes is published by 

references is referenced by 

replaces is replaced by 

requires is required by 

updates is updated by 

uses is used by 

6.5 XML Menu Selection 

Since the Landscape implementation uses XML, the power and convenience of entering 

content into the HCSL repository using XML files is available to a user who is familiar 

with this technology. The “XML” submenu under the “Add Content” menu, shown in 

Figure 56, allows the user to either import an XML file, or insert an XML description of 

the content for a Document, an Organization, or a Portfolio using the “Input Box” shown 

near the bottom of Figure 68, “Register an XML Instance.” In either case, the XML must 

be a valid instance of the XML Document, Organization, or Portfolio schema used by 

HCSL. When submitted, the XML data will be checked against the corresponding XML 

schema, for that type of HCSL object, and the user notified if there were any errors. 

Figure 68 Enter and Register XML Instance Data 

Each of the XML schemas may be viewed by clicking the link for “document schema,” 

“organization schema,” or “portfolio schema,” found near the top of the display screen, 

shown in Figure 68. Clicking one of these highlighted links will display the schema, 

typically within a browser window, which can then be saved and used to create a valid 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 70 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 71 

XML instance file, for the selected type of content, using an appropriate XML 

development and editing tool (e.g. XMLSpy®ii, etc.). The XML instance data may then 

be saved as a file and later imported into HCSL using the “Browse” button, shown in 

Figure 68. 

 Alternatively, the XML instance data may be entered directly, or copied and pasted, into 

the “Input Box,” shown in Figure 68. Once the XML file or data have been specified, 

clicking the “Submit” button will enter the XML data into the HCSL repository. The 

XML data will be checked against the schema to see if it is valid and well-formed XML, 

and a message will be displayed for the user informing them if the input data was 

accepted, or if there were errors in the data. Upon successful submission, the “Register 

an XML Instance” screen is again displayed to enable input of additional XML instance 

data. 

7 Establishing and Managing Groups and Subgroups 

As discussed previously in Section 2 and Section 5.2, the HCSL or Landscape supports 

establishing Groups and Subgroups, each with their own members, administrators, and 

content. Please refer to these Sections for background information on Groups and 

Subgroups. This section describes how Groups or Subgroups may be established, 

managed, and removed within HCSL. 

Groups and Subgroups in the Landscape have a hierarchical structure, with Groups able 

to have Subgroups, and Subgroups able to have Sub-Subgroups, and so on, each with 

their own members and administrator drawn from a parent Group or Subgroup, and 

content which are managed by members of the Group or Subgroup. 

7.1 Establishing a Group 

Any Registered User may request to establish a Group in the Landscape for managing 

their content or the content of other Group members. Upon receiving a request from a 

Registered User to establish a Group, the Landscape System Administrator establishes a 

“top-level” Group and assigns the Registered User making the request to establish a 

Group, as the Group Administrator to manage Group functions. However, the HCSL 

System Administrator, as required, may switch this Administrative role to another Group 

Member. 

When a new Group is established, the System Administrator informs the Group 

Administrator by email. The Group Administrator may then log in to their Group with 

their username and password to manage content, membership, establish Subgroups, and 

assign Subgroup Administrators. 

 

ii XMLSpy is a registered trademark of Altova, Inc. 
To request that a new Group be established in the Landscape, a Registered User selects 

the “Create a Group” submenu under the “Member Area” menu, as shown previously in 

Figure 48, which will display the “Creating A Group” screen, shown below in Figure 69. 

Figure 69 Creating a Group 

This form is used to enter a name for the Group, a description of the Group, and the 

objectives or purpose for the Group. When complete and submitted, the request is sent to 

the HCSL Administrator who will then establish the group. When the Group is created, 

the Registered User who submitted the request, will be notified and assigned as the 

Group Administrator, with the roles and privileges described previously in Section 5.3.5. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 72 
7.2 Member Area Menu Selections for Group/Subgroup Administrators 

In Section 6.1, the “Member Area” menu selections were discussed primarily for 

Registered Users or Group/Subgroup members who are not the Group/Subgroup 

Administrators. This Section discusses additional features available to Group and 

Subgroup Administrators for managing a Group or Subgroup. 

7.2.1 My Group Menu Selection 

Figure 70 shows a display screen for the “DHHS” Group, as seen by the Group 

Administrator who has logged into this Group, and who has selected the “My Group” 

menu selection. A Subgroup Administrator, logging into their Subgroup, would see a 

similar screen for their Subgroup upon selecting the “My Group” menu selection. 

Figure 70 Example of “My Group” Display for the Group Administrator of the DHHS Group 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 73 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 74 

This display is similar to what a Group Member would see upon selecting the “My 

Group” menu selection, but with additional capabilities for the Group Administrator to: 

• Set or change the default content access controls. 

• Provide a name and description of the Group or Subgroup. 

• Add or remove Group or Subgroup members. 

• Add or remove Subgroups. 

• Add, change, or remove Subgroup Administrators. 

Using Figure 70 as an illustration, the administrative capabilities provided for Group, and 

Subgroup Administrators, are described in the sections below: 

7.2.1.1 My Group Section 

At the top of the screen, the “My Group” Section informs the Administrator which 

Group/Subgroup that they are logged into. In the example of Figure 70, the 

Administrator is “...logged in as the Administrator of the group: DHHS.” 

7.2.1.2 Changing Group/Subgroup Default Content Access 

Control Permissions 

The section “Default Content Access Control Permissions” shows the default settings for 

Group/Subgroup content “Read” permissions, as indicated by the checkboxes shown at 

the top of Figure 70. The Group/Subgroup Administrator may modify the “Read” 

permissions by toggling the appropriate checkboxes on or off. 

Note that content owners may override the default settings for their content, by changing 

the default permissions for “Read,” “Update,” and “Delete,” and they may also transfer 

ownership of their content to another Group/Subgroup Member. See Section 6.1.1.1. 

7.2.1.3 Setting Group/Subgroup Name and Description 

Under the “Group Information” section, the Group Administrator may change the Group 

Name or Group Description. 

7.2.1.4 View Group/Subgroup Content 

The “My Group Content” section allows viewing the titles of all content in the Group. 

This feature is available for both the Group/Subgroup Administrator and Members, as 

was previously described in Section 6.1.2 for Group Members. 

7.2.1.5 My Group Members Section 

Under “My Group Members” section, the Group/Subgroup Administrator may view 

contact information for all Group/Subgroup members, and may “Remove” 

Group/Subgroup members by clicking the “X” under the “Remove” column, next to a 

users name. Note that if a Group/Subgroup member to be removed is currently a member 

of a Subgroup, they must first be removed from all Subgroups before they can be 

removed from the current Group. If a Group/Subgroup Administrator tries to remove a 
member who is still a member of a Subgroup, they will receive an alert message, as 

shown in Figure 71 informing them that the member must not belong to any Subgroups 

(before they can be removed from the Group). Note, adding a member to a Group or 

Subgroup is described below in Section 7.2.1.7. 

Figure 71 “Remove Member” Alert Message to an Administrator 

7.2.1.6 My Subgroup(s) Section 

Under the “My Subgroup(s)” section, the Group Administrator may “Delete” or remove 

“Subgroups,” or change “Subgroup Administrators” by selecting the appropriate control 

button. To change the “Subgroup Administrator,” the Group Administrator would select 

the “Change Admin” button, and choose another Group member from a drop-down list, 

to be the new Subgroup Administrator. 

7.2.1.7 Add a Member Section 

Under the “Add a Member” section, the Group Administrator may add members to the 

Group by selecting names from the drop-down list that contains the names of all 

members of the parent Group. For all Groups in HCSL, the parent Group is the top-level 

Group “HCSL.” Hence, the list of names in the drop-down list will be that of all 

Registered Users known to HCSL. In this example, Figure 70, the DHHS Group 

Administrator may select names of Registered Users to add as members to the DHHS 

Group. 

Note that the Group Administrator may add any Registered User to their Group using this 

drop-down list of names, regardless of whether the user previously made a request to join 

the Group, as described previously in Section 5.6. If a request were made by a user to 

join the Group, the Group Administrator would still use the drop-down list to select and 

add the user as a member of the Group. 

Note, removing a member from a Group or Subgroup is described in Section 7.2.1.5. 

7.2.1.8 Create a Subgroup Section 

Under the “Create a Subgroup” section, the Group Administrator may establish a 

Subgroup under the current Group, and assign a Subgroup Administrator for the new 

Subgroup by selecting a name from the drop-down list of Group Members. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 75 
7.3 Modifying Group/Subgroup Default Content Permissions 

The Administrator of a Group or Subgroup can change or set the default “Read” access 

permissions for Group/Subgroup content for a) members of the Group/Subgroup, b) 

members of the parent Group/Subgroup, and c) other users of HCSL, by toggling the 

check boxes, shown in Figure 72, and clicking the “Change Permissions” button. 

 

Figure 72 My Group DHHS – Default Access Permissions for Group/Subgroup Content 

In this example, the default Group content access permissions for the “DHHS” Group 

example allows all users of HCSL to “Read” or view content that is part of the DHHS 

Group. This includes members of the DHHS Group, the parent Group (which is the toplevel HCSL Group that includes all Registered Users of HCSL), and all other users of 

HCSL. 

Note, however, that the Administrator only controls the default “Read” permission on 

Group content. However, Group/Subgroup members may also modify the “Update” and 

“Delete” permissions, as well as the “Read” permission, on their content for other 

Group/Subgroup Members, as was described in Section 6.1.1.1. This capability gives the 

content owner full control over their content to change or modify default Group content 

permissions, as required, e.g. to temporarily make certain content “private” or unviewable to non-Group/Subgroup members, or to allow Group/Subgroup members to 

update and/or delete their content. 

7.4 Adding a Subgroup 

The Administrator of a Group or Subgroup may establish subgroups under the Group or 

Subgroup that they administer. Each Subgroup administrator may establish further 

Subgroups within their Subgroup. To create a Subgroup, the Administrator of a Group or 

Subgroup first logs in to their Group or Subgroup and selects the “My Group" submenu 

under the “Member Area” menu selection. The “My Group" screen will be displayed as 

shown in Figure 73. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 76 
Figure 73 Member Area - My Group Display – Add a Subgroup 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 77 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 78 

Note that the “My Group” screen highlights the name of the Group for which the user is 

the Administrator (i.e. “GroupTest” in this example). Additionally, the Administrator of 

the Group (or Subgroup) has the capability to “Create a Subgroup” and select an 

Administrator, using the drop-down list of member names, as shown near the bottom of 

Figure 73. 

To create a new Subgroup under the current Group (or Subgroup), the Administrator 

enters a Subgroup name in the “Subgroup Name” input-box. Next, the Administrator 

selects a name of a Group (or Subgroup) Member from the drop-down list labeled 

“Subgroup Administrator,” as the new Subgroup Administrator. Upon clicking the 

“Submit” button, the new Subgroup will be created and the person selected assigned as 

the Subgroup Administrator. 

In Figure 74, two Subgroups are shown, each with a different Administrator. These are 

shown under the “My Subgroup(s)” section in the Figure. Note that the Administrator of 

the current “GroupTest” is provided capabilities to change or remove (delete) the 

Administrator of either Subgroup, as well as any members of “GroupTest.” 
Figure 74 Member Area - My Group Display –Subgroups and Administrators 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 79 
If the Group Administrator selects the “Change Admin” control, under the “My 

Subgroup(s)” section, a form is displayed, as shown in Figure 75, “Changing Subgroup 

Administrator,” that allows selecting the name of a new Subgroup Administrator from the 

drop-down list. This list contains the names of all Group/Subgroup members. When the 

“Submit” button is selected, the change is finalized. 

Figure 75 Member Area - My Group Display – Changing Subgroup Administrator 

7.5 Removing a Subgroup 

The Administrator of a Group or Subgroup may remove any Subgroups that are 

immediately under their Group or Subgroup. However, before the Subgroup can be 

removed, all lower-level Subgroups must be removed first. This is to ensure an orderly 

process in removing of Subgroups, and for the proper disposition of Subgroup content 

and membership, as described below: 

• When a Subgroup is removed, existing Subgroup members continue to remain as 

members of the next higher-level Subgroup or Group (i.e. parent Subgroup or Group). 

• Existing content from the removed Subgroup is now associated with the higher-level 

Subgroup or Group, but continues to remain under the “ownership” of the content 

owners as member of the parent Group/Subgroup. 

• If the content owner is removed from a Subgroup or Group, the content is transferred 

to the ownership of the Administrator of the Subgroup or Group. 

Note: See, “Appendix C – FAQ, Frequently Asked Questions,” Question # 23, “What 

happens to my content when I am removed from an HCSL Group or Subgroup, or as a 

Registered User of the HCSL? And Question # 24, “What happens to the content when a 

Subgroup or Group is removed?” 

 

To remove a Subgroup, the Administrator of the parent Subgroup or Group performs the 

following steps: 

• The Administrator first ensures that all lower-level Subgroups have been removed by 

selecting the “Browse Groups” submenu under the “Member Area” or “Search 

Content” menu, and then reviewing that all lower-level Subgroups, under the 

Subgroup to be removed, have been deleted. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 80 
• The Administrator logs in to their Group or Subgroup and selects the “My Group” 

submenu under the “Member Area,” menu selection, as shown previously in Figure 

48. This will display the “My Group” form, as shown previously in Figure 74. 

• On the “My Group” display, Figure 74, the Group Administrator identifies the 

Subgroup to be removed in the “My Subgroup(s)” section, and then selects the 

“Delete” button next to that Subgroup to remove it. 

• A “Delete Subgroup” message will be displayed, as shown in Figure 76, asking the 

Administrator if they are sure they want to delete the Subgroup. By selecting the 

“Delete” button in this message, the Subgroup will be removed from HCSL. 

• If an Administrator attempts to remove a Subgroup that has other Subgroups under it, 

an error message will be displayed saying, “The subgroup you want to delete must not 

have any subgroups under it.” 

Figure 76 Confirm “Delete a Subgroup” Message 

7.6 Removing a Group 

In order to remove any Group, all Subgroups under the Group to be removed, must be 

removed first. The process for removing a Subgroup is described in Section 7.5. 

Only the System Administrator can remove an existing Group within HCSL. A Group 

Administrator should contact the System Administrator to request to have their Group 

removed. The System Administrator will confirm the request and remove the Group 

from the HCSL. 

When a Group is removed, members of the Group continue to remain as “Registered 

Users” of HCSL, as members of the Guest Group. However, when a Group is removed, 

the disposition of Group content depends on whether the Group content owner continues 

to remain as a “Registered User” of HCSL, as described below: 

 When a Group is removed, any remaining Group content remains in the HCSL 

database under the "ownership" of the content owner, as long as he/she remains as 

a Registered User of the HCSL. Note that a former Group Administrator may 

also remain as a Registered User and a content owner. 

 If a Registered User, who was a member of a Group that was removed, is also 

removed from the HCSL Guest Group, their content is automatically transferred 

to the HCSL Administrator as the new content “owner,“ and remains available for 

other users to access and view in the HCSL. Subsequently, the HCSL 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 81 
Administrator may transfer this content “ownership” to a member of another 

Group or Subgroup in HCSL, as required. 

Note: See, “Appendix C – FAQ, Frequently Asked Questions,” Question # 23, “What 

happens to my content when I am removed from an HCSL Group or Subgroup, or as a 

Registered User of the HCSL?” 

8 User Support Menu 

The “User Support” menu, shown in the Figure 77 below, provides the following options: 

• User Guide - PDF and HTML versions of the User Guide document 

• Presentations - HCSL presentations 

• FAQ – a list of Frequently Asked Questions about HCSL 

• Acronyms and Links - healthcare acronyms and web links (URLs) 

• Contact Us - send an email to the HCSL System Administrator 

Figure 77 User Support Menus 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 82 
8.1 User Guide Menu 

The HCSL User Guide is this document. It provides information on how to use the 

HealthCare Standards Landscape capabilities, including administrative functions. It is 

available in PDF and HTML formats, and may be printed or downloaded by a user. 

8.2 Presentations Menu 

These are Landscape presentations made to conferences, meetings, or interested groups. 

Normally presentations are in Power Point format, and may be downloaded and/or 

viewed in a browser or PowerPoint application. 

8.3 FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Menu 

The FAQ is available by clicking the FAQ button. It is also included as “Appendix C – 

FAQ, Frequently Asked Questions,” of this document. The FAQ provides explanatory 

information about Landscape features. 

8.4 Acronyms and Links Menu 

A list of healthcare and other acronyms is available by clicking the “Acronyms & Links” 

button. Included, are links to web sites of interest to the healthcare and standards 

community. 

8.5 Contact Us Menu 

The “Contact Us” display, shown in Figure 78, allows users to send a message directly to 

the Landscape Administrator. 

Figure 78 “Contact Us” Display 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 83 
The “Topic” drop-down list, shown at the top-right side in Figure 78, has the following 

choices: 

 

 Bug Report 

 Comment 

 Information Request 

 Suggestion 

 Other 

Users can select the “Topic” most appropriate for their message. 

The “Send a copy to myself” button at the bottom can be used if a user wishes a copy to 

be sent to their email address, as listed in their HCSL registration form. 

9 Background Menu 

The “Background” menu provides a brief description of the “Overview” and “Approach” 

for the Landscape project, as shown in Figure 79 below: 

Figure 79 Background – Overview and Approach 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 84 
10 Related Activities Menu 

The “Related Activities” menu provides access to related activities that are not currently 

part of the Landscape system, but which were intended to be included in the Landscape at 

a later time. Currently, two such activities are listed: the “AHRQ Yellow Book,” and 

“Conformance,” as shown in Figure 80. 

Figure 80 Related Activities Menu 

Work on these activities has been suspended at this time. However, brief descriptions of 

these capabilities are provided below: 

10.1 AHRQ Yellow Book Menu 

This menu is a placeholder for linking to the “Yellow Book” application. This activity 

refers to a NIST effort to provide a web-based tool for collecting and publishing 

information on healthcare standards’ activities that are now published by the Agency for 

Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health 

and Human Services (DHHS) and sponsor of the Landscape. Currently, this information 

is published, about quarterly, as a printed report for the healthcare community. This 

publication is informally referred to as the “Yellow Book” because of its yellow cover 

page. NIST developed a prototype capability to automate the data entry and publication 

of this information over the web for use by SDOs and subscribers. However, this work 

was suspended, and is presented under the Landscape for information only. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 85 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 86 

10.2 Conformance Menu 

This menu links to a demonstration capability developed by NIST to couple Landscape 

information about healthcare standards’ to information on corresponding standards’ 

conformance and testing capabilities. The demonstration capability includes information 

on several healthcare standards, some of which have been linked to corresponding 

standards information in the Landscape. This work was suspended, and presented under 

the Landscape for information only. 

11 Summary 

This document provides guidance, information, and examples on how to use the functions 

and capabilities provided by the NIST HealthCare Standards Landscape (HCSL or 

“Landscape”) software and database. The Landscape is accessible over the Internet as a 

web application, at http://www.nist.gov/hcsl. The Landscape tool includes capabilities 

for searching and publishing information related to healthcare standards, and for 

administering groups of users and information content in the Landscape. As the 

Landscape is enhanced and new functionality added, the User Guide will be updated 

accordingly. 

The HCSL system is operational and demonstrates a publicly available web-based 

capability for finding and publishing information on: 

• Health informatics standards and other related documents, 

• Associated standards development organizations, implementers, end-user, and 

organizations that adopt and implement these standards, 

• Standards portfolios that organizations have adopted, and 

• Links to other healthcare and standards’ resources. 

The HCSL uses actual healthcare standards’ information to demonstrate its capabilities, 

and is available for users and organizations to search for and add additional information. 

Use of the Landscape is growing and as additional information is added the value of the 

HCSL will continue to increase. NIST envisions that the HCSL can become a 

comprehensive source of health informatics and healthcare standards information that 

will support standards-based, system development and interoperability needs of the 

healthcare community and stakeholders. 

The design and implementation of this web tool was based upon requirements from many 

healthcare organizations and stakeholders. Organizations that have provided significant 

guidance, information, and support to the HCSL include: 

• Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) 

• ANSI Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) (and the 

former ANSI Health Informatics Standards Board - HISB) 

• Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) 

• National Alliance for Health Information Technology (NAHIT, the “Alliance”) 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 87 

• e-Gov Consolidated Health Informatics (CHI) program 

• American Dental Association (ADA) 

• American Telemedicine Association (ATA) 

• Health Level Seven (HL7) 

• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - 1073 Standard for Medical 

Device Communications (IEEE-1073) 

• National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP) 

• And others. 

NIST welcomes your comments and suggestions on the Landscape system and on the 

User Guide, in how we might enhance HCSL capabilities and value. Please send your 

feedback to the HCSL System Administrator at hcsl_admin@nist.gov. Thank you. 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 88 

12 Appendix A - XML Schemas 

XML Schemas are used for the three information content objects used in HCSL: the 

Document schema, the Organization schema, and the Portfolio schema. These are 

presented below in both text and graphical formats, respectively: 

12.1 The Document Schema 

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> 

qualified

unqualified

http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema

<xs:schema elementFormDefault=" "

attributeFormDefault=" "

xmlns:xs=" ">

<xs:element name="Document">

<xs:annotation>

<xs:documentation>This is the root element of the 

document.</xs:documentation> 

</xs:annotation>

<xs:complexType>

<xs:sequence>

<xs:element name="Name" type="xs:string" /> 

<xs:element name="ShortName" type="xs:string"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="AltNames" type="xs:string"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="Abstract" type="xs:string" /> 

<xs:element name="Keywords" type="xs:string"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="AvailableAt" type="xs:anyURI"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="DocType" type="docType"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="DocStatus" type="docStatus"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="HCDomain" type="hCDomain"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="Category" type="category"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="OtherInfo" type="xs:string"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="AuthorsEditors"

type="xs:string" minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element

name="IntellectualPropertyInformation"

type="xs:string" minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="Version" type="xs:string"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="IssueDate" type="xs:string"

minOccurs="0" /> 

</xs:sequence>

</xs:complexType>

</xs:element>

<xs:simpleType name="docType">

<xs:restriction base="xs:string">

<xs:enumeration value="Abstract" /> 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 89 

<xs:enumeration value="Acknowledgement/Receipt" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Animation" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Application" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Art Work" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Article" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Audio" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Bibliography" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Bill/Invoice" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Bill/List of Materials" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Book" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Brochure/Pamphlet" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Business Card" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Business Document" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Case Study" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Certificate" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Chart" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Charter" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Code List" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Comment" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Compendium" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Conference Paper" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Contract/Agreement" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Data Base/File" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Dictionary" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Directory" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Document" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Drawing" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="E-mail" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Encyclopedia" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Facsimile/FAX" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Figure" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="File" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Form" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Graph" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Graphic" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Guide" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Guideline" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Halftone" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Handbook" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Handout" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Image" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Index" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Journal" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Law" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Legal" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Lesson" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Letter" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Magazine" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Map" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Memorandum" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Message" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Model" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Movie" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Multimedia" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Music" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="News Article" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="News Release/Report" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Newspaper" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Not Defined" /> 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 90 

<xs:enumeration value="Note" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Ontology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Other" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Painting" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Pamphlet" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Paper" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Photograph" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Plan" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Policy" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Position Statement" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Presentation" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Proceedings" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Proposal" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Protocol" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Reference" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Regulation" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Regulation/law" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Report" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Rule" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Schedule" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Schema" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Script" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Shipping List" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Software" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Sound" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Source Code" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Specification" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Specification/standard" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Spreadsheet" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Standard" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Stylesheet" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Summary" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Table" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Taxonomy" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Telegram" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Template" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Thesaurus" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Tutorial" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Unknown" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Video" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Vocabulary List" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Vocal (Human voice)" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Web Link" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Web Page" /> 

</xs:restriction>

</xs:simpleType>

<xs:simpleType name="docStatus">

<xs:restriction base="xs:string">

<xs:enumeration value="Active" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Approved" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Approved and published" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="At Ballot" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Deprecated" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Draft" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Draft standard for trial use" 

/> 

<xs:enumeration value="Final Draft" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="In-development" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Not Yet Approved" /> 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 91 

<xs:enumeration value="Published" />

<xs:enumeration value="Recommendation" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Superceded" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Unavailable" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Under-review" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Unknown" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Withdrawn" /> 

</xs:restriction>

</xs:simpleType>

<xs:simpleType name="hCDomain">

<xs:restriction base="xs:string">

<xs:enumeration value="Accounting/Billing" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Administration/Management" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Alternative Medicine" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Billing (HIPAA)" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Biology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Biomedicine" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Biotechnology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Cardiovascular" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Chemicals (UMLS)" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Chemicals - medications" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Chemicals - non-medicine" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Chemistry" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Claims/Payment" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Clinical" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Cytology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Demographics" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Dentistry" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Disability (ICF)" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Disease Prevention and 

Control" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Education" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Encounters" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Entomology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Environmental" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Environmental Health" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Epidemiology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Ethnology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Etiology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Financial" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Forensics" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Gastroenterology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="General Practice" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Genes and Proteins" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Genetic Research" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Genetics" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Gerontology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Gynecology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Health Informatics" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Health Information" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Hematology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="History and Physical" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Hospice" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Immunizations" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Insurance" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Interventions" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Laboratory" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Laboratory Test/Result" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Library Services" /> 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 92 

<xs:enumeration value="Medical Devices" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Medical Imaging" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Medical Research" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Medical Supplies" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Medications" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Mental Health" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Messaging" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Multimedia" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Neurology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="None" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Nursing" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Obstetrics" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Occupational Medicine" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Oncology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Ophtalmology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Orthopedic" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Osteopathy" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Other" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Parasitology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Pathology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Patient Care" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Patient Demographics" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Patient Record" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Periodontics" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Pharmacy" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Physics" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Physiology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Plastic Surgery" />

<xs:enumeration value="Policy, Regulation, 

Guidelines" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Population Health" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Prenatal" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Procedures" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Provider" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Psychiatry" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Psychology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Public Health" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Pulmonary" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Research" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Research Programs" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Security/Privacy" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Specifications/Standards" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Supplies" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Surgery" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Telehealth" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Telemedicine" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Toxicogenomics" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Toxicology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Training" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Urology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Veterinary" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Virology" /> 

</xs:restriction>

</xs:simpleType>

<xs:simpleType name="category">

<xs:restriction base="xs:string">

<xs:enumeration value="Electronic Health Records" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Terminology" /> 
<xs:enumeration value="Patient/Provider Identifiers" 

/> 

<xs:enumeration value="Security" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Auto-ID and Bar Code" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Quality 

Improvement/Management" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Standards 

supporting/promoting organization" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="ePrescription/CPOE/Medication 

Administration" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Message Format/Electronic 

Data Exchange" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Federally adopted 

standards/CHI" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Claims processing/transaction 

standards" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Health Data Cards/Smart 

Cards" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Other" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Wireless" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Imaging" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Minimum Data Sets" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Supply Chain" /> 

</xs:restriction>

</xs:simpleType>

</xs:schema>

The Document schema is shown here in graphical form. 

Figure 81 XML Schema for Document 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 93 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 94 

12.2 The Organization Schemaiii

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> 

qualified

unqualified

http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema

<xs:schema elementFormDefault=" "

attributeFormDefault=" "

xmlns:xs=" ">

<xs:element name="Entity">

<xs:annotation>

<xs:documentation>This is the root 

element</xs:documentation> 

</xs:annotation>

<xs:complexType>

<xs:sequence>

<xs:element name="Name" type="xs:string" /> 

<xs:element name="ShortName" type="xs:string"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="AltNames" type="xs:string"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="Mission" type="xs:string"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="Website" type="xs:anyURI"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="EntityType" type="entityType"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="HCDomain" type="hCDomain"

minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded" /> 

<xs:element name="Category" type="category"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="Scope" type="xs:string"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="Background" type="xs:string"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="Charter" type="xs:string"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="Goals" type="xs:string"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="Objectives" type="xs:string"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="Description" type="xs:string"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="Membership" type="xs:string"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="Leadership" type="xs:string"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="TargetAudiences"

type="xs:string" minOccurs="0" /> 

 

iii Note that the element name used for an organization is “Entity.” This term was used early in the 

development of the HCSL and remains solely in use within the Schema and in the HCSL database and 

associated software code. 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 95 

<xs:element name="WorkItems" type="xs:string"

minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="ContactInfo" type="contactInfo"

minOccurs="0" /> 

</xs:sequence>

</xs:complexType>

</xs:element>

<xs:simpleType name="entityType">

<xs:restriction base="xs:string">

<xs:enumeration value="Academic" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Collaborative" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Consortia" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Corporate" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Council" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Educational" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="For-profit" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Initiative" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Local Government" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Manufacturing" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Military" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Non-profit" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Professional Society" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="SDO" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="State Government" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Trade Association" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Tribal Government" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="US Government" /> 

</xs:restriction>

</xs:simpleType>

<xs:simpleType name="hCDomain">

<xs:restriction base="xs:string">

<xs:enumeration value="Accounting/Billing" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Administration/Management" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Alternative Medicine" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Billing (HIPAA)" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Biology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Biomedicine" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Biotechnology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Cardiovascular" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Chemicals (UMLS)" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Chemicals - medications" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Chemicals - non-medicine" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Chemistry" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Claims/Payment" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Clinical" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Cytology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Demographics" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Dentistry" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Disability (ICF)" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Disease Prevention and Control" 

/> 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 96 

<xs:enumeration value="Education" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Encounters" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Entomology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Environmental" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Environmental Health" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Epidemiology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Ethnology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Etiology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Financial" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Forensics" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Gastroenterology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="General Practice" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Genes and Proteins" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Genetic Research" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Genetics" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Gerontology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Gynecology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Health Informatics" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Health Information" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Hematology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="History and Physical" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Hospice" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Immunizations" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Insurance" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Interventions" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Laboratory" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Laboratory Test/Result" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Library Services" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Medical Devices" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Medical Imaging" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Medical Research" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Medical Supplies" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Medications" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Mental Health" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Messaging" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Multimedia" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Neurology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="None" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Nursing" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Obstetrics" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Occupational Medicine" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Oncology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Ophtalmology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Orthopedic" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Osteopathy" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Other" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Parasitology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Pathology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Patient Care" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Patient Demographics" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Patient Record" /> 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 97 

<xs:enumeration value="Periodontics" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Pharmacy" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Physics" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Physiology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Plastic Surgery" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Policy, Regulation, Guidelines" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Population Health" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Prenatal" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Procedures" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Provider" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Psychiatry" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Psychology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Public Health" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Pulmonary" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Research" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Research Programs" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Security/Privacy" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Specifications/Standards" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Supplies" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Surgery" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Telehealth" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Telemedicine" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Toxicogenomics" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Toxicology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Training" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Urology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Veterinary" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Virology" /> 

</xs:restriction>

</xs:simpleType>

<xs:simpleType name="category">

<xs:restriction base="xs:string">

<xs:enumeration value="Electronic Health Records" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Terminology" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Patient/Provider Identifiers" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Security" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Auto-ID and Bar Code" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Quality 

Improvement/Management" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Standards supporting/promoting 

organization" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="ePrescription/CPOE/Medication 

Administration" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Message Format/Electronic Data 

Exchange" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Federally adopted 

standards/CHI" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Claims processing/transaction 

standards" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Health Data Cards/Smart Cards" 

/> 

<xs:enumeration value="Other" /> 
<xs:enumeration value="Wireless" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Imaging" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Minimum Data Sets" /> 

<xs:enumeration value="Supply Chain" /> 

</xs:restriction>

</xs:simpleType>

<xs:complexType name="contactInfo">

<xs:sequence>

<xs:element name="Name" minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="Address" minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="Email" minOccurs="0" /> 

<xs:element name="Phone" minOccurs="0" /> 

</xs:sequence>

</xs:complexType>

</xs:schema>

The Organization (“Entity”) schema is shown here in graphical form. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 98 

Figure 82 XML Schema for Organization (“Entity”) 
12.3 The Portfolio Schema 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> 

 <xs:schema elementFormDefault="qualified"

attributeFormDefault="unqualified"

xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">

 <xs:element name="Portfolio">

 <xs:annotation>

<xs:documentation>This is the root 

element.</xs:documentation> 

</xs:annotation>

 <xs:complexType>

 <xs:sequence>

 <xs:element name="Name" type="xs:string" /> 

<xs:element name="Description" type="xs:string" /> 

<xs:element name="TargetAudiences"

type="xs:string" /> 

<xs:element name="AvailableAt" type="xs:anyURI" /> 

</xs:sequence>

</xs:complexType>

</xs:element>

</xs:schema> 

The Portfolio schema is shown here in graphical form. 

Figure 83 XML Schema for Portfolio 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 99 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 100 

13 Appendix B - Glossary 

The Glossary describes key terms used in this document. Further information about each 

term may be gained from the Landscape itself and especially from the web links given for 

any term that may be in the Acronyms section of the Landscape (See Section 8.4). 

 

Term Description 

Anonymous User (AU) A non-registered user of the Landscape. 

Content Data added to the HCSL by users describing Documents, 

Organizations, Portfolios, or Relationships; instances of an HCSL 

Object. 

Content Permissions Access controls over Content, i.e. controls over who may view, 

add, modify, or delete content, and add relationships between 

HCSL Content. 

Data Field Named elements of an object used to contain data. 

Document Object An HCSL Object used to describe information about a particular 

type of document, e.g. standard, regulation, report, etc. 

Enumerated Values A set of allowed values defined for a data field. 

GA Group Administrator. 

GM Group Member. 

Group A named reference for an organization of members and content. 

Group Administrator A person registered in HCSL and designated by the System 

Administrator to have responsibility for management of an HCSL 

Group, including membership, content permissions, Subgroups, 

and designation of Subgroup administrators. 

Group Member A registered user of HCSL who is included as a member of a 

Group by the Group Administrator. 

GU Guest User. 

Guest User (GU) A registered user of HCSL and a member only of the Guest 

Group, who can browse HCSL data, join a Group, or create a new 

Group, but not add or manage content in the Landscape. 

HCSL HealthCare Standards Landscape. 

Indexed Data Field A data field used as an index to search and find objects in the 

HCSL with a matching index value. In HCSL, the data fields 

“Document Type,” “Document Status,” “HealthCare Domain,” 

and “Organization Type” are indexed data fields, which have a set 

of specified values (enumerated values). 

Information Model A representation of the structure and type of information that may 

be stored in the HCSL. 

Information Object A structured record, containing data fields and values, having a 

unique identifier; often referred to simply as an HCSL Object”. 

Keyword One to several terms used to describe topics or areas that are 

relevant to an HCSL Document. Keywords may be used to search 

for HCSL Documents that contain the particular keywords. 

Landscape An alias referring to the NIST Health Care Standards Landscape 

(HCSL) system and/or project. 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 101 

(Login) Username A designation used by a Registered User to login to the HCSL, 

which is a unique within the HCSL system. 

(Login) Password A secret designation specified by a User that is used to login as a 

Registered User to the HCSL. 

NIST National Institute of Standards and Technology. 

Object Type An object corresponding to a particular type of HCSL schema. 

HCSL currently has three types of objects and schemas: 

Document, Organization, and, Portfolio. 

Organization Object An HCSL Object used to describe information about a particular 

type of organization, e.g. SDO, government agency, company, etc. 

Portfolio Object An HCSL Object used to describe information about a collection 

of documents, typically standards that an organization may have 

adopted, uses, or developed. 

Registered User A user registered with the HCSL system who is a member of the 

Guest Group, and a member of zero or more other Groups; a Guest 

User, part of the “Guest” Group, who may also be a member of, or 

join, one or more other Groups. A Registered User not assigned to 

any Group beside the Guest Group, may browse HCSL data, join 

or create a Group, but not add or manage content. 

Repository The data base containing HCSL Objects (i.e. content). 

Relationship A named, type of relationship between two HCSL information 

objects. Relationships can be made between any type of HCSL 

Objects, e.g. Document-to-Document, Document-to-Organization, 

Document-to-Portfolio, etc. 

Relationship Object An HCSL Object used to describe information about a relationship 

or relationship between two HCSL Objects. 

RU Registered User. 

SA System Administrator for the HCSL. 

Schema A template defining the allowable structure and content of an 

object (HCSL Objects are defined by XML Schemas). 

Search string A pattern of text characters used to search and find HCSL Objects 

having that pattern of characters within the name field of the 

Objects (i.e., name of the Document, Organization, or Portfolio), 

or within the keywords of Document Objects. 

SG Subgroup. 

SGA Subgroup Administrator. 

SGM Subgroup Member. 

Subgroup A named reference for an organization of members and content 

within a parent Group or Subgroup; a hierarchically subordinate 

Subgroup under a parent group or subgroup. 

Subgroup Administrator A person who is a member of a Group, or parent Subgroup, and 

designated by the Group/Subgroup Administrator to have 

responsibility for overall management of an HCSL Subgroup, 

including membership, content permissions, subordinate 

Subgroups, and designation of their administrators. 

Subgroup Member A member of a Group, or parent Subgroup, assigned as a member 

of a Subgroup under the Group/Subgroup. 
HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 102 

System Administrator A person having the authority and responsibility for overall 

management of the HCSL system and its operations. 

User A person who uses the Landscape to browse, add and/or manage 

HCSL content, or Groups/Subgroups in the HCSL system. 
14 Appendix C – FAQ, Frequently Asked Questions 

1. What does 'HCSL' mean? 

2. What is the HCSL? 

3. Where is the HCSL located? 

4. What is the purpose of the HCSL? 

5. Who may use the HCSL? 

6. How can I register with the HCSL? 

7. What type of health care information does the HCSL contain? 

9. Does the HCSL contain actual health informatic standards? 

8. What is a 'Portfolio'? 

10. How can I browse or search for information in the HCSL? 

11. How can I add new information into the HCSL? 

12. How can I update or delete information in the HCSL? 

13. What are 'Relationships' and how are they used? 

14. How can Relationships between HCSL objects be used for searching? 

15. How are Relationships made between HCSL objects? 

16. How can Relationships for an object be viewed? 

17. Can the Relationships for an object be changed or deleted? 

18. When I view a Document or Organization object, I notice that its 'HealthCare 

Domains' are displayed as hot-links. What is the significance of these hot-links? 

19. What are HCSL Groups and Sub-Groups? 

20. What is the purpose of having HCSL Groups and Sub-Groups? 

21. How do I establish an HCSL Group or Sub-Group? 

22. How can I join or leave an HCSL Group or Sub-Group? 

23. What happens to my content when I am removed from an HCSL Group or 

Sub-Group, or as a Registered User of the HCSL? 

24. What happens to the content when a Subgroup or Group is removed? 

25. What type of access controls does the HCSL provide? 

26. What is the current information model and how is it represented in HCSL? 

27. Can the HCSL information model be extended and/or modified? 

28. What software and hardware are needed to access the HCSL? 

29. How is the current HCSL implemented? 

30. How can I submit comments or suggest changes or enhancements to the 

HCSL? 

31. Who should I contact for further information about the HCSL? 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 103 
1. What does HCSL mean? 

HCSL stands for "Health Care Standards Landscape" often referred to as the 

"Landscape." 

2. What is the HCSL? 

The HCSL is a) a NIST project to develop and demonstrate a Web-based 

repository of information on health care standards, standards development 

organizations, organizations which adopt and use these standards, and other 

relevant health care standards information; and, b) the HCSL refers to the actual 

online repository containing health care standards information that can be 

accessed over the Web. 

3. Where is it located? 

The prototype HCSL implementation is hosted on a public Server at NIST, and 

may be accessed using either http://www.nist.gov/hcsl or http://hcsl.sdct.nist.gov

as the URL in a web browser. 

4. What is the purpose of the HCSL? 

The HCSL prototype is intended to demonstrate and provide a web-based 

resource for publishing and finding information on: 

• health informatics information, healthcare standards, and other related 

information 

• healthcare standards' development organizations (SDOs), standards 

implementers, and end-user organizations and facilities that adopt and 

use these standards 

• standards portfolios or profiles that organizations have developed or 

adopted 

• links to other health informatics and healthcare information resources 

The current HCSL prototype contains a sample of such information to 

demonstrate its capabilities. However, it is available for users and organizations 

to add additional information to the HCSL database that will enhance its 

usefulness to all stakeholders. Eventually, NIST envisions that the HCSL will 

become a comprehensive resource of relevant health informatics and healthcare 

information for the wider community of healthcare stakeholders and public. 

5. Who may use the HCSL? 

Anyone may access the HCSL to search for and view information. Users who are 

not registered in the HCSL are considered "Guests" and may browse or search 

the repository, without having to login with a User-Name and Password. 

However, they cannot add, delete, or change HCSL content, or make 

relationships among any content. Registered users log in using their User Name 

and Password, and may join one or more HCSL Groups (described below) to 

become members of a Group. Group members may search for content, add new 

content, and modify or delete content that they submitted or "own." Group 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 104 
members may also make Relationship among HCSL content (see FAQ #13), and 

change their User Name or Password. 

6. How can I register with the HCSL? 

Anyone may register with the HCSL by clicking the registration link on the HCSL 

Welcome page and completing the requested information on the displayed form. 

A registered user may login to the HCSL, with their User Name and Password 

and can join one or more Groups, where they may add and mange their content 

within their Group(s). 

7. What type of health care information does the HCSL contain? 

Currently, the HCSL contains information about healthcare documents (e.g. 

specifications and standards, regulations and policy, reports, etc), information 

about organizations involved with healthcare, such as those developing or using 

healthcare standards, and information about standards "portfolios" or profiles 

(further described below) that have been developed or are used by specific 

organizations (see FAQ #26 also). 

8. Does the HCSL contain actual health informatic standards? 

No, the HCSL contains information about health informatics standards, on 

organizations involved with developing, implementing, or using health informatics 

standards, and on the portfolios' of standards adopted or used by an 

organization. But, the HCSL does not include the actual standards themselves. 

However, in most cases, the HCSL provides web links (URLs) to relevant 

standards development organizations, or to sites where standards may be found 

or ordered. 

9. What is a "Portfolio"? 

In the HCSL, a Portfolio is used to describe a collection of documents, typically 

standards, which an organization has either developed, adopted for use, or 

implemented within their organization. A Portfolio enables users to quickly see 

which standards have been developed, adopted or are being used by an 

organization as part of their current Portfolio of standards. For example, the 

Portfolio for the Consolidate Health Informatics (CHI) initiative and the 

Connecting-for-Health (C-f-H) collaborative both include HL7 Messaging, 

DICOM, and LOINC in their Portfolio of adopted standards. Similarly, the 

Portfolio for the HL7 healthcare standards development organization includes 

HL7 Messaging, Clinical Document Architecture (CDA), CCOW, and the Arden 

Syntax, among other standards that HL7 has developed. A Portfolio object may 

also include links (i.e. URLs) to the specified documents. 

10. How can I browse or search for information in the HCSL? 

By selecting Search Content in the HCSL Menu, a user can browse or search 

the HCSL Repository for information on Documents, Organizations, or 

Portfolios using one of several different search methods: 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 105 
1. by using selected search terms and values (Boolean search), 

2. by specifying a search-string (text) to match the name of the object, or to 

match one or more of its keywords, 

3. by selecting a Relationship to find items having that Relationship between 

them 

Method 1 - Boolean Search: 

The HCSL indexes certain data elements that may be used as "search-terms" to 

find specific content in the HCSL database. These search-terms, together with 

their enumerated values, may be used as search criteria in a Boolean query to 

find content that meets the specified search criteria. 

For Documents, HCSL indexes the data elements: 

• Document Type 

• Document Status 

• HealthCare Domain 

For Organizations, HCSL indexes the data elements: 

• Organization Type 

• HealthCare Domain 

Each indexed element (i.e. search-term) has a defined set of enumerated values 

that may be selected (from drop down lists) to search for content containing the 

selected element and value(s). The indexed elements are then used with one of 

the Boolean operators, AND or OR, to form a Boolean Query. For example, to 

find Documents in HCSL that are "published standards related to healthcare 

messaging", the user would select the values: a) Specification/standard from 

the drop-down list for Document Type; b) Published from the list for Document 

Status; and, c) Messaging from the list for HealthCare Domain, and then 

selecting the Search (method 1) button to begin the search. 

By using the default value of All for the various search terms, and selecting 

Search, a list of all Documents, Organizations, or Portfolios can be displayed. 

A user may then select an item in this list to view its data or content. 

Note that for any search term, multiple values may be selected from the dropdown lists and used in the query by holding the control-key (ctl) down while 

making selections from a list. Thus, in the previous example, a user could find all 

"published or draft" standards relating to messaging by using the "ctl" key to 

select both Draft and Published from the list for Document Status. 

When multiple values for a search term are used in a query, by default, they form 

an "OR'd" expression of values that are used in the search. Hence, in the 

previous example, selecting both Draft and Published from the list for 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 106 
Document Status, will result in all HCSL Documents whose status is either 

Draft OR Published. 

An exception to this rule exists for the search term HealthCare Domains where 

multiple values may be selected from the list and used in either a OR or AND

expression for the query. Again, using the previous example, all "published or 

draft standards relating to messaging and/or health informatics" may be found by 

selecting both Messaging and Health Informatics from the list of HealthCare 

Domain values, and then selecting either AND or OR beneath the list, to use 

these values accordingly in the query. 

Method 2 - Name or Keyword Search: a "search-string" (text) may be used to 

search for items whose Name and/or Keywords match the search text, either 

exactly or partially. The user would select either the Document Name or 

Document Keywords radio-button, provide a search-string to use for finding 

HCSL objects whose name (title) or keywords matched the search-string, and 

then submit the query by selecting the Search (method 2) submit-button. 

Method 3 - Search by Relationship: this method allows searching the HCSL 

using a specific type of an Relationship to find items having that Relationship 

between them. This method is described in FAQ #14. 

11. How can I add new information into the HCSL? 

Users who have registered with HCSL, and who are members of an HCSL 

Group, or its Subgroups, may add, update, or delete information within that 

Group or its Subgroups. A Group or Subgroup member may only update or 

delete Group or Subgroup content that was submitted by them, or Group or 

Subgroup content for which update or delete permissions were granted by the 

owner of that content. 

12. How can I update or delete information in the HCSL? 

Existing content which has been added, or is "owned" by a member of a Group 

or Subgroup, may also be updated or deleted by that user (i.e. content owner). 

To update or delete content, the content owner would first need to login to the 

Group or Subgroup containing the content, search for and retrieve that content, 

and then click on the Update or Delete buttons shown on the page displaying the 

content. If Update was selected, an "update" form will display allowing the owner 

to modify the content, and submit the changes. If Delete was selected, the 

content will be deleted from the HCSL database. 

13. What are 'Relationships' and how are they used? 

The HCSL enables Relationships to be defined among registered content to 

describe a logical relationship that exists between the Objects. These 

Relationships may also be used in searching for content having specific 

Relationships between them. Each HCSL object may have a Relationship with 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 107 
other HCSL objects, thus forming a Relationship between an "Object-pair," as 

follows: 

• Document-to-Document 

• Document-to-Organization (or Organization-to-Document) 

• Document-to-Portfolio (or Portfolio-to-Document) 

• Organization-to-Organization 

• Organization-to-Portfolio (or Portfolio to Organization) 

• Portfolio-to-Portfolio 

Each of the above HCSL Object-pairs may be associated with each other 

through a named Relationship-type that describes a logical relationship that may 

exist between these Objects. The HCSL provides a drop-down list of 

Relationships that a user may select from to describe a type of relationship 

between two HCSL Objects. 

For example, the named-Relationship develops can be used to associate an 

organization with the documents or standards that it develops, e.g. the 

organization HL7 develops HL7 Messaging, CDA, CCOW, etc., standards. Thus, 

an HCSL Organization object may have a relationship with one or more 

Document objects that it either develops, uses, or manages, where each of 

these terms describe the type of relationship between an Organization and a 

Document object. Similarly, the Relationship includes may be use between a 

Portfolio object and one or more Document objects to indicate Documents that 

are members of that Portfolio. Similarly, the Relationships develops, manages, 

or uses, may be used between an Organization object and a Portfolio object to 

describe the type of relationship between that Organization and its Portfolio. Of 

course, the user should select a type of Relationship that is meaningful for the 

two Objects since HCSL can not determine whether a Relationship is logical or 

not. 

14. How can Relationships between HCSL objects be used for searching? 

The HCSL currently supports searching based on Relationships that may exist 

between any two HCSL objects. The procedure involves a user selecting one of 

the various kinds of HCSL Object Relationship pairs (described above) and one 

of the named Relationship-types (also described above), that are to be used in 

searching for a given named type of Relationship between the chosen HCSL 

Object-pairs. For example, to find all possible Relationships that might exist 

between an Organization and related Documents, a user would use select 

Relationship from the Search Content menu selection, and then select a 

Document and an Organization to use as the HCSL Object-pair (from a dropdown list), and All as the value for the named Relationship-type (from a dropdown list). This search would return all Relationships between the Document and 

the Organization selected, if they exist. Alternatively, in the above example, the 

user could select develops for the named type of Relationship to find all 

Documents that were developed by that Organization. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 108 
In general, the following describes the steps in performing an Relationship-based 

search: 

• Select Relationships, under the Search Content Menu, to bring up the 

Relationships search page. The Relationships search page has three 

sections that determine which HCSL Object-pairs will be used in the 

search, e.g. Organization-to-Document, Organization-to-Organization, 

Portfolio-to-Document. 

• Select the section (i.e. Organization, Document, or Portfolio) to be used as 

one member of the HCSL Object-pair for the Relationship search; 

• From the chosen section, use the drop-down lists to a) select the other 

member of the HCSL Object-pair to be used for the Relationship search, 

and b) select a named Relationship-type (e.g. develops, has, has liaison 

with, includes, etc) to use as a Relationship between the chosen HCSL 

Object-pair. 

• Select the Search button to begin the search. 

If the Relationship exists between the selected HCSL Object-Pair, a list of the 

names of the associated HCSL objects will be displayed as a result of the 

search. Otherwise, the results will be empty. 

15. How are Relationships made between HCSL objects? 

Relationships may be made between content-objects by owners of the content. 

Only registered users who are members of a Group or Subgroup may add and 

manage content, and make relationships between two content-objects (see 

FAQs #11, 12, & 19). A user may make a Relationship by first logging-in to HCSL 

and using the following procedure: 

• select Relationship under the Add Content Menu, then 

• select the type of Relationship to be made from the drop-down list, e.g. 

Document-to-Document, Document-to-Organization, Organization-toPortfolio, etc., and then 

• select the Submit button. 

• On the next web form, select, from the displayed drop-down lists, two 

specific objects and the Relationship to be made between these objects, 

and then 

• select Submit to create the Relationship. 

For example, to make an Relationship between an Organization and a Document 

it publishes (say, HL7 and a standard it published), the user would: 

• select the Relationship type, "Document-to-Organization" and then 

• select "HL7" from the Organization drop-down list, 

• select "publishes" as the named-type of Relationship from the 

Relationship/Direction drop-down list, and 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 109 
• select "HL7 Messaging" (or another HL7 document) from the Document 

drop-down-list, while also selecting the direction of the Relationship 

between the objects by selecting the appropriate "directional-arrow " in the 

Relationship/Direction drop-down list (note that it is the user's 

responsibility to specify a meaningful type of Relationship and its direction 

between objects; the Landscape cannot distinguish between a logically 

valid and invalid relationship). Then, 

• select Submit. 

** Note, the user will be notified if the Relationship was or was not made 

successfully. If a Relationship already exists between any two HCSL objects, 

attempting to make another Relationship will result in an error, since only one 

defined Relationship at a time can exist between any two HCSL objects. 

16. How can Relationships for an object be viewed? 

When the contents of a Document, Organization, or Portfolio object is retrieved 

and displayed, the Browse Relationship(s) link can be selected to view any 

possible Relationships. If these exist, they will be displayed on a subsequent web 

page. When Relationships are shown for an object, the user may easily access 

the other objects with which the current object is associated with by clicking on 

the link for those objects. In this way, a user may quickly see and traverse object 

Relationships. 

17. Can the Relationships for an object be changed or deleted? 

Yes, by users who "own" the content and relationship (typically a submitter of the 

content). When Relationships for an object are viewed, as described above, the 

owner of the content and relationship may select the Delete or Update buttons 

to delete or update a relationship, respectively. The Update function allows the 

name of the Relationship and its direction between objects to be changed; it does 

not allow changing either of the Objects that are currently associated by the 

Relationship, since this would create a new type of Relationship between one the 

existing two Objects and another Object. If a new Relationship is required 

between either of the existing Objects and another Object, a new Relationship 

should be made, as described previously in FAQ #15. 

18. When viewing a Document or Organization object, I notice that its 

'HealthCare Domains' are displayed as hot-links. What is the significance of 

these hot-links? 

When an instance of a Document or an Organization object is added or later 

updated in the Landscape, it can be categorized or classified by one or more 

healthcare domains that may relate to it. These healthcare domains serve as 

indexes in the HCSL, and display as "hot-links" when a Document or 

Organization is retrieved and viewed. By clicking on a particular healthcare 

domain link, a user can quickly see a list of all other Documents or Organizations 

that are also categorized or classified by that same healthcare domain. For 

example, the Document, HL7 Messaging is associated with multiple healthcare 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 110 
domains, including Health Informatics, and Messaging, both of which appear 

as hot-links when viewing the HL7 Document. By clicking on one of these links, a 

list of all other Documents in the Landscape, which are associated with Health 

Informatics or Messaging will be displayed. Any Document in the displayed list 

can then be selected to view the contents of that particular Document. The same 

can also be done with Organizations objects by selecting the displayed 

healthcare domain links used to classify an organization. 

In general, various data fields in Document and Organization objects are used as 

indexes to allow these fields and values to be used in searching for specific 

content in the HCSL. For the Document object, the indexed fields are 

Document Type, Document Status, and HealthCare Domain. For the 

Organization object, the indexed fields are Organization Type and HealthCare 

Domain. Each indexed field has a list of enumerated values defined, from which 

the user may select one or more values to use in classifying the Document or 

Organization during creation or updating of the object. When a Document or 

Organization is viewed, the indexed field and selected values are displayed as 

hot-links, which may be clicked to quickly find all other Documents or 

Organizations having the same value assigned for that field. 

19. What are HCSL Groups and Sub-Groups? 

The Group/Sub-Group capability enables an organizational structure to be 

formed in the Landscape, which reflects an organization's structure. For example, 

a standards' development organization (SDO) typically has a hierarchical 

structure of committees, sub-committees, task forces, working groups, subworking groups, etc., with associated members and documents (i.e. content) that 

are managed by each organizational component. Within this structure, some 

content may be shared with all members of an organization, while other content 

may only be shared by members of a sub-group until it is finalized and can be 

shared with others. The Group and Sub-Group capability provides the means for 

establishing and managing such an organizational structure of members and 

information (content) within HCSL.

Within HCSL, a named Group may be defined and assigned members and a 

Group Administrator (GA). Registered users of the HCSL may request to join 

HCSL Groups. The GA, assigned by the HCSL Administrator, may add or 

remove registered users from the Group, establish Sub-Groups (SGs), and 

designate Sub-Group Administrators (SGAs) from among members of the Group. 

Similarly, an SGA can add or remove members from a SG, establish subordinate 

sub-groups, and designate SGAs for those SGs. This process may be continued 

to establish a hierarchical structure of sub-groups within sub-groups (i.e. SubSub-Groups), and to assign administrators and members to each of these subgroups (See FAQ # 21 & 22). 

20. What is the purpose of having HCSL Groups and Sub-Groups? 

HCSL Groups and Sub-Groups enable organizations (or individuals) to establish 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 111 
an organizational structure within HCSL for managing and controlling user 

membership and content of that Group and any Sub-Group(s). The Group or 

Subgroup Administrator manages the membership of their Group or Subgroup. 

Each member of a Group and Sub-Group may submit content, and decide who 

may access, view, add, delete, and update their content. Typically, most content 

will be public and viewable by all. However, there may be circumstances where a 

Group or Sub-Group member wishes to keep their content private, or only allow 

viewing by members of the Group or Sub-Group. Later, the Group or Sub-Group 

member may make their content public and allow viewing by all HCSL users. 

21. How do I establish an HCSL Group or Sub-Group?

To Establish a Group

• A registered user may establish a new Group by completing and 

submitting the HCSL form for creating a new Group. This is done by first 

logging in as a registered user and selecting Create a Group under the 

Member Area menu selection, and then completing and submitting the 

displayed form. Information requested on the form includes, Group Name, 

Description, and Objectives (purpose). Upon submission, this information 

is emailed to the HCSL Administrator, who will notify the requester by 

email when the Group has been established. The requesting user will also 

be made Administrator of the new Group. 

To Establish a Subgroup

• A Group (or Subgroup) Administrator may establish one or more 

Subgroups within their Group (or Subgroup), and assign a Subgroup 

Administrator from among the members of their Group (or Subgroup). Inturn, the Subgroup Administrator may establish one or more subordinate 

Subgroups under their Subgroup, assign Administrators to these 

Subgroups from among the members of their Subgroup, and so on. Group 

and Subgroup Administrators receive user requests to join, or be 

removed, from their Groups/Subgroups, and manage overall 

Group/Subgroup membership. 

22. How can I join or be removed from an HCSL Group or Sub-Group? 

A registered user may join one or more Groups, and a Group member may join 

one or more Subgroups within a Group. A registered user may request to join, or 

leave, a Group (or Sub-Group) as described below:

To join a Group:

• First register with HCSL and designate a Username and Password (the 

HCSL Administrator will confirm the registration by email).

• When confirmed, login to HCSL with your Username and Password.

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 112 
• Next, select the Join another Group selection under the Member Area

menu item. 

• Select a Group to join, from the list of displayed HCSL Groups, and 

Submit the request (the request will be sent by email to the Group 

Administrator, who accepts or refuses the request, and notifies the user by 

email). 

• When accepted, login to HCSL, and the Group, for adding and managing 

content. 

Once a user is a member of a Group, they can request to join any of its 

Subgroups, similar to the steps for joining a Group.

To join a Subgroup:

• First join a Group, as described above.

• Login to HCSL and your Group.

• Select the Join another Group selection under the Member Area menu 

item.

• Select a Subgroup to join, from the list of displayed Subgroups, and 

Submit the request (the request will be sent by email to the Subgroup 

Administrator, who accepts or refuses the request, and notifies the user by 

email).

• When accepted, login to HCSL, and the Subgroup, for adding and 

managing content. 

To leave a Group or Subgroup: 

• Login to the Group or Subgroup. 

• Select the My Group selection under the Member Area menu. 

• Select the link "here" in: Click here if you want to be removed from this 

group. 

• On the next displayed page, click the Remove button to complete the 

request. An email will be sent to the Group/Subgroup Administrator 

indicating that the user has removed him/herself from the 

Group/Subgroup. 

• When removed, a user can no longer login to that Group or Subgroup, or 

add or manage content in that Group or Subgroup. Any remaining user 

content will remain with the Group or Subgroup and be assigned to the 

Group or Subgroup Administrator. 

*** Note:

- When a member is removed from a Subgroup they still remain a member 

of the Parent Group until they request to be removed from the Parent 

group.

- Conversely, a member cannot be removed from a Parent Group until they 

are first removed from any Subgroups, under that Parent, to which they 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 113 
belong.

- An Administrator cannot remove himself or herself from the Group or 

Subgroup that they administer. To be removed or replaced as the 

Group/Subgroup Administrator, they must contact the Administrator of the 

Parent Group or Subgroup to request removal or replacement. Only the 

Administrator of the parent Group or Subgroup can assign, replace, or 

remove the Administrator of a "child" Subgroup. Similarly, only the HCSL 

Administrator can assign, replace, or remove an Administrator of a toplevel Group.

23. What happens to my content when I am removed from an HCSL Group 

or Sub-Group, or as a Registered User of the HCSL? 

Content submitted by a Subgroup or Group member is "owned" and managed by 

that member until they either: 

1. Delete the content 

2. Transfer content "ownership" to another member of the Subgroup or 

Group to which they belong 

3. Are removed from the Subgroup or Group 

4. Are removed as a Registered User of the HCSL 

In the 1st case above, deleted content is completely removed from the HCSL and 

is no longer available. 

In the 2nd case above, "ownership" of the content is removed from the original 

owner and transferred to another Subgroup or Group member, and remains 

associated with the Subgroup or Group. 

In the 3rd case above, any remaining content that has not been deleted or 

transferred to another Subgroup or Group member, remains part of the Subgroup 

or Group, and is automatically transferred to the "ownership" of the Subgroup or 

Group Administrator. The Administrator may, if they choose, transfer "ownership" 

of any content they "own" to another Subgroup or Group member. 

In the 4th case above, any remaining content that was not deleted or transferred 

by the owner to another Subgroup or Group member, is automatically transferred 

to the "ownership" of the Subgroup or Group Administrator, or if the Subgroup or 

Group doesn't exist, it is automatically transferred to the "ownership" of the HCSL 

Administrator (see FAQ #24). In either case, the content remains available to 

users of the HCSL. 

24. What happens to the content when a Subgroup or Group is removed? 

The disposition of content for each of these situations follows:

When a Subgroup is removed:

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 114 
• Subgroup content now becomes associated with the parent Group or 

Subgroup.

• Subgroup content remains under the "ownership" of the content owner, if 

the content owner is still a member of the parent Group. Otherwise, 

ownership of the content is automatically transferred to the Administrator 

of the parent Subgroup or Group.

When a Group is removed:

• Any remaining Group content, which has not been deleted, remains in the 

HCSL database under the "ownership" of the content owner, as long as 

they remain as a registered user of the HCSL. If a registered user (and 

their Group) is removed from the HCSL, their content is automatically 

transferred under the "ownership" of the HCSL Administrator and remains 

available in the HCSL (see FAQ #23).

25. What type of access controls does the HCSL provide? 

The HCSL supports; 

• Registered user login/logout using unique user names and passwords. 

• Administrator controls over Group/Subgroup membership and default 

content permissions. 

• Group/Subgroup member controls over who may view, modify, or delete 

their content (i.e. content permissions). 

• Administrator controls to establish Subgroups, under their parent Group or 

Subgroup, and to assign Subgroup Administrators from among the 

membership of the parent Group/Subgroup. 

Note that a registered user may change their password by selecting the My 

Settings option under the Member Area menu selection, and by then changing 

their password in the area indicated on the displayed page. 

26. What is the current HCSL information model and how is it represented? 

Currently, the HCSL supports three types of information objects: 

• Document object (e.g. standard, report, regulation, guidelines, etc)

• Organization object (e.g. standard development organizations, agency, 

company, user group, etc)

• Portfolio object (i.e. a collection of Documents, typically a standards 

'profile'; e.g. IHE, CHI, C-f-H, etc., standards profile. See FAQ #9)

Each of these types of objects contains information (content) about a particular 

Document, Organization, or Portfolio being described.

In addition, the HCSL enables relationships, called Relationships, to be 

specified among these objects. A Relationship defines a named type-of 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 115 
relationship to be defined among HCSL objects that provides further information 

about a relationship that may exist between these objects, e.g. an "Organization 

develops or uses a Document" (e.g. standard; see FAQ #13)

These three types of information objects ( Document, Organization, Portfolio), 

and their Relationships, comprise the current HCSL information model.

Each type of object is represented by an XML Schema in the HCSL. Each 

instance of an object in the HCSL conforms to one of these Schemas. 

27. Can the HCSL information model be extended or modified? 

Yes, but this will require software additions or modifications to support new or 

modified object types and their associated information. As more members of the 

healthcare community use the HCSL, we anticipate that suggestions will be 

made to add or modify the HCSL information model to include other types of 

information. NIST envisions that this will lead to a recommended "core" set of 

information that the HCSL should contain, and to a new HCSL information model 

that will contain this information. Hence, the HCSL information model will evolve 

to support a "common" set of healthcare standards' information that is needed by 

the broader community. 

28. What software and hardware are needed to access the HCSL? 

A computer able to connect to the Internet, with a web-browser that supports 

HTML/HTTP, Java, JScript, and XML/XSLT. 

29. How is the current HCSL implemented? 

The HCSL is implemented as a three-tiered Client-Server application on an MS 

Windows platform. The Server (Apache-Tomcat) provides Web pages to the Web 

Browser and an interface to the HCSL repository to store and retrieve health care 

standards information. An Oracle 9i RDBMS is currently used to manage the 

content repository. Application logic on the Server is written in Java and 

interfaces to the Oracle DBMS and Web Browser through XML/XSLT messages 

and Java Servlets. HCSL is also being implemented on a Linux platform, with 

interfaces to an Oracle, MySQL, and Postgres relational databases, to enable 

portability and use with other database systems in the future. 

30. How can I submit comments or suggest changes or enhancements to 

the HCSL? 

Comments, problem reports, or suggestions for changes or enhancements to the 

HCSL can be submitted by sending an email to the HCSL Administrator. This can 

be done by either selecting a "Mailto:" link to the "HCSL Administrator" on those 

pages containing this type link, or by selecting the Contact Us option under the 

User Support menu selection, and then completing and submitting the Contact

form. Note that the form provides a drop-down menu of message topics from 

which to select. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 116 
31. Who should I contact for further information about the HCSL? 

For further information on the HCSL, contact: 

• Tom Rhodes, Project Leader, (301) 975-3295, trhodes@nist.gov, or 

• Lisa Carnahan, Manager, (301) 975-3362, lcarnahan@nist.gov. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 117 
15 Appendix D - User Roles and Privileges 

Each type of HCSL user can be thought of as having a “role” in the Landscape with 

associated privileges and responsibilities, which that role may perform with content, 

users, or groups. These roles and privileges are described below for each type of user: 

15.1 System Administrator (SA) 

The SA (i.e., Landscape Administrator or “root” administrator) is responsible for overall 

management, operation, maintenance, and use of Landscape system to ensure the 

Landscape performs satisfactorily. This includes management of the hardware, software, 

data, users, groups, and group administrators. The System Administrator may: 

 

1. Add or remove Registered Users (RU). 

2. Notify a Registered User when they have been added or removed from the 

Landscape. 

3. Add or delete Groups (G) and Subgroups (SG). 

4. Assign, reassign, or delete a Registered User as the Group Administrator (GA) 

for a Group. 

5. Notify a Registered User when they have been added or deleted as a Group 

Administrator of a Group. 

6. Notify a Group Administrator when their Group has been added, modified, or 

deleted. 

7. Assign, modify, and delete Group Administrator privileges (i.e. permissions) 

for managing a Group, including: 

a. Add and delete Registered Users as Group Members (GM). 

b. Add, re-name, or delete, Subgroups (SG) within that Group. 

c. Add, re-assign, or delete, Subgroup Administrators (SGA) for 

Subgroups. 

d. Notify a Group Administrator when they have had privileges modified. 

8. Add, update, delete, manage, and transfer ownership of Landscape content. 

9. Set and change default content access control permissions. 

15.2 Anonymous User (AU) 

1. Is a non-registered user of the Landscape. 

2. May browse and view unrestricted or public content. 

3. Cannot add, modify, or delete content in the Landscape. 

4. May register as a Registered User in the Landscape, with a username and 

password for identification and login purposes, thus becoming a Guest User 

and member of the Guest Group. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 118 
15.3 Registered User (RU) 

1. Is automatically a member of the Guest Group, and may be a member of zero 

or more other Groups in the Landscape. 

2. May use their username and password to log in to the Landscape Guest 

Group, or any other Group or Subgroup of which they are members. 

3. May request to join one or more Groups (G) as a member. 

4. Is assigned to a Group by a Group Administrator and becomes a Group 

Member (GM) with associated privileges. 

5. May request the System Administrator to remove them as a Registered User 

of the Landscape. 

15.4 Guest User (GU) 

1. Is a Registered User. 

2. Is only a member of the Guest Group. 

3. Has a user name and password to login to the Guest Group. 

4. May request to join other Groups or create new Groups, where they will be 

assigned as the Group Administrator. 

5. May browse and view unrestricted or public content in the Landscape. 

6. Cannot add, modify, or delete content in the Guest Group (or Landscape). 

7. May request the System Administrator to remove them as a Registered User 

of the Guest Group (i.e. Landscape). 

15.5 Group Member (GM) 

1. Is a Registered User of the Landscape. 

2. Is a member of one or more Groups, and of the Guest Group, by default. 

3. May remove themselves from a Group. 

4. May login to their Group with a username and a password.

5. May change their username and/or password. 

6. Is a member of zero or more Subgroups within a Group. 

7. May request to be added as a member of a Subgroup within the Group. 

8. May add content to the Group, and add content relationships.

9. May transfer ownership of their content to another Group Member. 

10. May receive ownership of content transferred by another Group Member. 

11. May modify and delete content and relationships that they own in the Group 

(i.e. content they “own”). 

12. May change default content permissions to allow or restrict viewing of 

content they submitted or own for: 

a. Other Group Members 

b. Members of the parent Group.

c. Other Landscape users. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 119 
13. May change the default Group content permissions on content they own to 

allow or restrict other Group members to update or delete that content. 

14. May add, modify or delete other Group content and/or add content 

relationships, as permitted by the owner of the content.

15. May allow or restrict other Group and Subgroup Members, to add 

relationships with content they own. 

16. May be assigned by the Group Administrator to be a Subgroup Administrator 

(SGA) for a Subgroup (SG) within the parent Group. 

17. May be assigned by the HCSL System Administrator to be the Group 

Administrator. 

15.6 Group Administrator (GA) 

1. Is assigned by the HCSL System Administrator, from either the Registered User 

who created the Group, or from among members of the Group. 

2. A Group Administrator is a member of the Group. 

3. A Group Administrator reviews and approves, or refuses, requests by Registered 

Users to become members of the Group. 

4. A Group Administrator adds, or may remove, Registered Users as members of the 

Group. 

5. A Group Administrator notifies Registered Users when they have been assigned 

or removed as a Group Members. 

6. A Group Administrator sets the default permissions for reading or viewing Group 

content for Group members, parent Groups, and other Landscape users. 

7. A Group Administrator notifies Group Members when the default permissions for 

Group content have been modified. 

8. A Group Administrator adds or removes Subgroups within a parent Group. 

9. A Group Administrator assigns, re-assigns, or removes a Group Member as a 

Subgroup Administrator (SGA) for a Subgroup within the Group. 

10. A Group Administrator notifies a Group Member when they have been assigned 

or removed as a Subgroup Administrator. 

11. A Group Administrator notifies a Subgroup Administrator when their 

administrative privileges or permissions have been modified. 

12. Optionally, a Group Administrator may act as a Subgroup Administrator. 

13. A Group Administrator may request the HCSL System Administrator to remove 

or replace them as the Administrator of a Group. 

15.7 Subgroup Member (SGM) 

Subgroup Members have the same responsibilities and privileges within their Subgroup, 

as Group Members have within their Groups. 

1. A Subgroup Member is a member of a parent Group or Subgroup. 

2. A Subgroup Member is a member of one or more Subgroups within a parent 

Group or Subgroup. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 120 
3. A Subgroup Member may remove themselves from a Subgroup. 

4. A Subgroup Member may login to their Subgroup with a username and a 

password.

5. A Subgroup Member may change their username and/or password. 

6. A Subgroup Member may request to be added as a member of a lower-level 

Subgroup within a parent Subgroup. 

7. A Subgroup Member may add content within a Subgroup, and add content 

relationships.

8. A Subgroup Member may transfer ownership of their content to another Subgroup 

Member. 

9. A Subgroup Member may modify and delete content and relationships that they 

have submitted in a Subgroup (i.e. content they “own”). 

10. A Subgroup Member may change default content permissions to allow or restrict 

viewing of content they submitted or own for: 

a. Other Subgroup Members 

b. Members of the parent Group or Subgroup.

c. Other Landscape users. 

11. A Subgroup Member may change the default Subgroup content permissions on 

content they own, to allow or restrict other Subgroup members to update or delete 

that content. 

12. A Subgroup Member may add, modify or delete other Subgroup content and/or 

add content relationships, as permitted by the owner of the content.

13. A Subgroup Member may allow or restrict other Subgroup Members, and 

members of other Groups and Subgroups, to add relationships with content they 

own. 

14. A Subgroup Member can be assigned to be the Subgroup Administrator by the 

Administrator of the parent Group or parent Subgroup. 

15. A Subgroup Member can be assigned by the Subgroup Administrator to be an 

Administrator of a lower-level Subgroup (i.e. sub-subgroup), within the parent 

Subgroup. 

15.8 Subgroup Administrator (SGA) 

Subgroup Administrators have the same responsibilities and privileges within their 

Subgroups as Group Administrators have within their Groups. 

1. A Subgroup Administrator is a member of a parent Group or Subgroup. 

2. The Administrator of a parent Group or parent Subgroup assigns a member of a 

parent Group or Subgroup to be the Administrator of a Subgroup. 

3. A Subgroup Administrator reviews and approves, or refuses, requests by parent 

Group, or parent Subgroup, members to become members of the Subgroup. 

4. A Subgroup Administrator adds, or may remove, Subgroup Members. 

5. A Subgroup Administrator notifies Subgroup members when they have been 

assigned to or removed from a Subgroup. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 121 
6. A Subgroup Administrator sets the default permissions for reading or viewing 

Subgroup content for members of their Subgroup, parent Group or Subgroup, and 

other Landscape users. 

7. A Subgroup Administrator notifies Subgroup Members when the default 

permissions for Subgroup content have been modified. 

8. A Subgroup Administrator adds or removes lower-level Subgroups within a 

parent Subgroup. 

9. A Subgroup Administrator assigns, re-assigns, or removes Subgroup Members as 

Administrators of lower-level Subgroups within the parent Subgroup. 

10. A Subgroup Administrator notifies Subgroup Members when they have been 

assigned or removed as Administrators of lower-level Subgroups within the 

parent Subgroup. 

11. A Subgroup Administrator notifies Administrators of lower-level Subgroups, 

when their administrative privileges or permissions have been modified. 

12. Optionally, a Subgroup Administrator may act as an Administrator of a lowerlevel Subgroup. 

13. A Subgroup Administrator may request the Administrator of the parent Group, or 

Subgroup, to remove or replace them as the Administrator of a Subgroup. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 122 
16 Appendix E - HTMLArea Editor 

The Landscape includes a WYSIWYG text editor, called the “HTMLArea” editor, 

which can be used to edit the content or appearance of text data for many HCSL data 

fields. Content may be entered directly, or copied and pasted, into the editor for editing 

or adding of HTML tags that enhance the display or presentation of the content. 

The HTMLArea editor is accessed by clicking on a hot-link that appears near the top of 

the content data entry forms, as shown in Section 6 (See Figure 57, Figure 58, Figure 59), 

and in the content update forms (See Figure 61). Clicking this link opens the editor in a 

new window, shown in Figure 84, in which the user can do text editing. 

Figure 84 HTMLArea Editor initial window 

The HTMLArea editor includes a toolbar with features to edit and format text, and a brief 

explanation for using the editor in the text area. An example of formatted text, including 

a graphic, is also illustrated in the text area, as shown in Figure 85 (WYSIWYG view). 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 123 
Figure 85 WSIWYG View of Sample Content with HTML styling. 

Text and graphic data may be entered into the editor, or existing content may be copied 

from an HCSL data field, pasted into the editor, edited, and then copied and pasted back 

into the HCSL data field. When editing is complete, a user toggles the editor from the 

WYSIWYG view to the text view by clicking the "<>" menu button, to select, copy (may 

ctrl-A & ctrl-C), and paste (may ctrl-V) the edited text and/or HTML content into the 

appropriate data field of the HCSL data-entry or update form. Figure 86 shows the 

sample content in the HTML Text view, which is used to select, copy, and paste the 

edited content into the appropriate HCSL input data field. 

Figure 86 Text View of Sample Content with HTML Tags 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 124 
In Figure 87 below, the sample content has been pasted into the “Abstract” data field of 

the data input form for a new Document record being entered into the Landscape. 

Figure 87 Sample Edited Content Pasted into New Document Record (partial contents) 

When a user views this document in the Landscape, it will appear as formatted in the 

WSIWYG view, shown previously in Figure 85. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 125 
17 Index 

A

Access, 5, 8, 103, 104, 110, 112, 115, 

116 

Add content, 35, 119, 121 

Administrative privileges, 120, 122 

Administrator, 33, 34, 35, 36, 51, 76, 80, 

100, 101, 102, 111, 112, 113, 114, 

115, 116, 118, 120, 121, 122 

Appendix, 34, 56, 58, 118, 123 

Appendix A, 4, 54, 88 

Appendix B - Glossary, 100 

Appendix C, 83 

Appendix C - FAQ, 80, 82, 83, 103 

Appendix D, 34, 118 

Appendix E, 56, 58, 123 

B

Boolean Search, 106 

Browse, 5, 6, 10, 19, 21, 24, 30, 31, 32, 

35, 53, 100, 101, 103, 104, 105, 110, 

118, 119 

C

Consolidate Health Informatics, 105 

Content, 1, 5, 6, 7, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 

20, 22, 23, 24, 26, 33, 34, 35, 47, 51, 

56, 58, 80, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 

105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 

112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 119, 

120, 121, 122, 123 

D

Default Content Permissions, 115 

Delete, 5, 7, 35, 100, 103, 104, 107, 110, 

112, 114, 115, 118, 119, 120, 121 

Document, 7, 16, 17, 18, 26, 54, 60, 82, 

83, 100, 110 

Document keywords, 16, 107 

Document schema, 70, 88 

Document Status, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 

100, 106, 107, 111 

Document Type, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 

100, 106, 111 

E

Enumerated Values, 12, 100, 106, 111 

G

Group, 4, 7, 31, 34, 35, 36, 49, 50, 51, 

52, 53, 54, 76, 77, 79, 80, 100, 101, 

103, 104, 105, 107, 109, 111, 112, 

113, 114, 115, 118, 119, 120, 121 

Guests, 104 

H

HCSL, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 20, 26, 36, 

37, 51, 86, 94, 100, 101, 102, 103, 

104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 

111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 123 

Health Informatics, 1, 2, 3, 4, 13, 86, 

104, 105, 107, 111 

Healthcare Domain, 15, 16, 17, 22, 110 

HealthCare Domain, 103, 110 

Healthcare Stakeholders, 2, 86, 104 

Hierarchical Structure, 7, 111 

Hot-Links, 17, 103, 110, 111 

HTML Area, 56, 58 

I

Index, 126 

Indexed Element, 12, 21, 106 

Indexes, 12, 20, 106, 110, 111 

Informatics Standards, 3, 86, 105 

K

Keyword Search, 107 

Keywords, iii, 6, 16, 22, 100, 101, 106, 

107 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 126 
L

Links, 2, 17, 24, 70, 83, 86, 100, 103, 

104, 105, 110 

M

Messaging, 4, 12, 13, 17, 18, 26, 105, 

106, 107, 108, 110 

Multiple values, 12, 13, 21, 22, 106, 107 

Multiple Values, 12, 13, 21, 22, 106, 107 

My Settings, 115 

O

Object, 7, 26, 100, 101, 103, 105, 106, 

107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 115, 116 

Organization, 1, 7, 22, 23, 24, 26, 34, 56, 

58, 60, 70, 88, 100, 101, 105, 108, 111 

P

Padlock Icon, 48 

Password, 5, 35, 101, 104, 105, 112, 

115, 119, 121 

Permissions, 76, 100 

Portfolio, 4, 7, 24, 25, 26, 58, 62, 70, 88, 

99, 101, 103, 105, 108, 109, 110, 115, 

116 

Portfolio schema, 70, 88 

Privileges, 34, 35, 36, 118, 119, 120, 121 

Problem Reports, 116 

R

Register a Document, 54, 55 

Registered User, 5, 7, 33, 34, 35, 100, 

101, 103, 105, 109, 111, 112, 114, 

115, 118, 119 

Registration, 35, 36, 37, 105, 112 

Role, 34, 118 

Roles and Privileges, 34, 118 

S

Sample Query, 22 

Schema, 70, 88, 93, 94, 98, 99, 101, 116 

Search, iii, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 

17, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 60, 100, 

101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109 

Search-Term, 106 

Server, 2, 4, 104, 116 

Software, 2, 35, 103, 116, 118 

Special characters, 56 

Specifications, 1, 3, 105 

Standards, 1, iii, 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 12, 13, 26, 

58, 83, 86, 100, 101, 103, 104, 105, 

106, 107, 108, 111, 115, 116 

Standards Development Organization, 1, 

2, 7, 86, 105 

Sub-Group, 7, 34, 36, 103, 111, 112, 114 

Sub-Groups, 7, 36, 103, 111 

T

Table of Contents, iv 

U

Update, 5, 7, 56, 103, 107, 110, 112 

User-Name, 104 

Users, 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 34, 35, 83, 86, 

100, 104, 105, 107, 110, 111, 112, 

114, 118, 119, 125 

W

Web Browser, 104, 116 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 127 
The version of this Document is: HCSL_Users-Guide.PDF, December 2006. 

HealthCare Standards Landscape – User Guide Page 128