CDA+-+Text+on+nullFlavor+Guidance

What is a Null Flavor and How is it Used?
IT solutions are designed to store and manage data, but sometime we do not have the data for various reasons. Typically, in these cases, a special value, known as NULL is stored. There may be several reasons why the data isn’t available. In some cases, it may not be available or known, in others, it is not relevant, and in others it may not be computable or measurable. In HL7, these different reasons for why the data isn’t available are described as the //flavor// of NULL. This supports the management of the missing data. Let’s look an example.

If a patient arrives at an Emergency Department unconscious and with no identification, the system would represent the lack of information by use of a null flavor. The patient’s birth date would be unknown and would be represented using a null flavor. In this case, the appropriate null flavor would be “NAV” which is the code for “temporarily unavailable”. This information is not available, but is expected to be available later. In this example, when the patient regains consciousness or a relative arrives in the ER, we expect to know the patient’s birth date.

 /* coding an unknown birthdate */

Here is another example of using a null flavor for a patient who does not have a home phone.

 /* coding a patient who does not have a home phone */

For those constraints that require the presence of an attribute that is unknown (SHALL be present with a cardinality of at least one (1..)), use a null flavor.
 * **NI** = No Information. This is the most general and default null flavor.
 * **NA** = Not Applicable. Known to have no proper value (e.g., last menstrual period for a male).
 * **UNK** = Unknown. A proper value is applicable, but is not known.
 * **ASKU** = asked, but not known. Information was sought, but not found (e.g., the patient was asked but did not know).
 * **NAV** = temporarily unavailable. The information is not available, but is expected to be available later.
 * **NASK** = Not Asked. The patient was not asked.

There are a handful of other codes. See the null flavor vocabulary table for the complete list.