B.C. Health Information Standards for Date and Time

The Government of British Columbia's Health Information Date and Time Standard and Guidance establishes standardized formats, minimum data capture requirements, clinical and operational usage rules, interoperability requirements, and reporting expectations for the representation, storage, exchange, and display of date and time information across B.C.'s health care system.

Accurate recording and interpretation of date and time information is fundamental to safe and effective health care delivery. Consistent date and time practices support clinical care, patient safety, system interoperability, auditability, analytics, reporting, and legal recordkeeping. The standard provides guidance for both machine-readable data exchanged between systems and human-readable information displayed in clinical applications, reports, and electronic health records.

The standard is based primarily on the International Standards Organization’s (ISO) 8601 Extended Date/Time Format (EDTF), ISO/TS 22220: 2008 Health Informatics, and aligns with key health interoperability standards including HL7 v2, HL7 FHIR, and DICOM.

What's New in Version 2.0

Version 2.0 includes several significant enhancements designed to improve clinical interoperability, data quality, and consistency of date and time representation across British Columbia's health sector. Key updates include:

• New guidance on Pacific Time (UTC-07:00) implementation within British Columbia health information systems.

• Clarification that machine-readable timestamps exchanged between systems must include either a UTC designator (Z) or an explicit UTC offset.

• New recommendations to avoid reliance on legacy seasonal time zone abbreviations such as PST and PDT in health information exchange.

• Expanded interoperability guidance supporting ISO 8601, HL7 v2, HL7 FHIR, and DICOM implementations.

• Enhanced conformance, validation, and data quality requirements for health information exchange.

Scope

The standard specifies representations for dates based on the Gregorian calendar and times based on the 24-hour clock. It includes requirements and guidance for:

• Calendar dates expressed using year, month, and day

• Local time and Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)

• Date/time values with UTC offsets

• Combined date and time representations

• Time intervals and recurring intervals

• Date and time accuracy indicators

• Event time semantics

• Time zone representation and jurisdictional guidance

• Machine-readable and human-readable date/time formats

• Conformance, validation, interoperability, and reporting requirements

Target Audience

The Health Information Date and Time Standard is intended for:

• Clinicians and care providers

• Health information management professionals

• Health informatics specialists

• Information technology professionals

• Digital health solution vendors

• Electronic Medical Record (EMR) vendors

• Clinical Information System (CIS) vendors

• Pharmacy Management System (PMS) vendors

• Organizations involved in health information exchange and interoperability

• Individuals with an interest in health information standards and date/time representation practices

Governance

B.C. Health Information Standards are endorsed by Ministry executives and developed in consultation with health program areas, subject matter experts, clinical advisors, and advisory reference groups with provincial and pan-Canadian representation.

Maintenance

The Date and Time Standard is a living document that is reviewed and updated to reflect implementation experience, emerging clinical and operational requirements, evolving interoperability standards, and changes in provincial or pan-Canadian health information standards. Ongoing maintenance may include technical corrections, clarifications, enhancements, and updates resulting from real-world implementation and validation activities.

Download

Download the B.C. Health Information Date and Time Standard and Guidance (Version 2.0) (PDF)