---
type: "resource-definitions"
title: "Substance Definitions"
resource: "Substance"
---

# Substance Definitions

<a id="Substance"></a>

## Substance
A homogeneous material with a definite composition

**Definition:** A homogeneous material with a definite composition.

**Cardinality:** 0..*

**Mappings:** rim=Material; orim=fhir:Substance rdfs:subClassOf   rim:Entity, [      a owl:Restriction;     owl:onProperty  rim:Act.classCode;     owl:allValuesFrom  cs:EntityClass\#MAT   ].; w5=administrative.entity


<a id="Substance.identifier"></a>

## Substance.identifier
Unique identifier

**Definition:** Unique identifier for the substance, often an identifier associated with the package/container of the substance instance (usually a label affixed directly).

**Cardinality:** 0..*

**Type:** [Identifier](/Identifier)

**Summary:** true

**Mappings:** w5=FiveWs.identifier; rim=.id


<a id="Substance.status"></a>

## Substance.status
active | inactive | entered-in-error

**Definition:** A code to indicate if the substance is actively used.

**Cardinality:** 0..1

**Type:** [code](/code)

**Binding:** required:[substance-status](/valueset-substance-status)

**Summary:** true

**Is Modifier:** true (Reason: This element is labelled as a modifier because it is a status element that contains status entered-in-error which means that the resource should not be treated as valid)

**Mappings:** w5=FiveWs.status; rim=.statusCode


<a id="Substance.category"></a>

## Substance.category
What class/type of substance this is

**Definition:** A code that classifies the general type of substance.  This is used  for searching, sorting and display purposes.

**Comments:** The level of granularity is defined by the category concepts in the value set.   More fine-grained filtering can be performed using the metadata and/or terminology hierarchy in Substance.code.

**Cardinality:** 0..*

**Type:** [CodeableConcept](/CodeableConcept)

**Binding:** extensible:[substance-category](/valueset-substance-category)

**Summary:** true

**Mappings:** w5=FiveWs.class; rim=.code


<a id="Substance.code"></a>

## Substance.code
What substance this is

**Definition:** A code (or set of codes) that identify this substance.

**Comments:** This could be a reference to an externally defined code.  It could also be a locally assigned code (e.g. a formulary),  optionally with translations to the standard drug codes.

**Cardinality:** 1..1

**Type:** [CodeableReference](/CodeableReference)

**Binding:** example:[substance-code](/valueset-substance-code)

**Summary:** true

**Mappings:** w5=FiveWs.what[x]; rim=.code; orim=fhir:Substance.code rdfs:subPropertyOf rim:Entity.code


<a id="Substance.description"></a>

## Substance.description
Textual description of the substance, comments

**Definition:** A description of the substance - its appearance, handling requirements, and other usage notes.

**Cardinality:** 0..1

**Type:** [markdown](/markdown)

**Summary:** true

**Mappings:** rim=.player.desc


<a id="Substance.expiry"></a>

## Substance.expiry
When no longer valid to use

**Definition:** When the substance is no longer valid to use. For some substances, a single arbitrary date is used for expiry.

**Cardinality:** 0..1

**Type:** [dateTime](/dateTime)

**Summary:** true

**Mappings:** rim=.expiryTime


<a id="Substance.quantity"></a>

## Substance.quantity
Amount of substance in the package

**Definition:** The amount of the substance.

**Cardinality:** 0..1

**Type:** [Quantity](/Quantity)([SimpleQuantity](/SimpleQuantity))

**Summary:** true

**Mappings:** rim=.player.quantity