CLIF Data Dictionary Change Log
Track the evolution of the Common Longitudinal ICU data Format (CLIF) through its version history. This change log documents all updates, improvements, and structural changes to the data dictionary.
Version 3.0.0 (July 2026) Coming Soon
New Tables (13 tables added) Last updated: May 29, 2026
| Table Name | Description | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| validated_diagnosis | Concept table for clinician-validated diagnostic labels for research purposes. Designed for studies requiring confirmed diagnoses through chart review or consensus adjudication, enabling high-quality phenotyping for research cohorts. | Issue #121 | Dec 12, 2025 |
| output | Concept table capturing patient fluid output events during hospitalization, including output name, category, group, and volume in mL. | Issue #142 | Feb 12, 2026 |
| clinical_notes_facts | Alpha table capturing clinical note metadata (note type, author, co-signer, revision timestamps) for efficient filtering and time-aware revision selection. Note text is not stored in CLIF — notes are provisioned "just in time" by querying site CDWs and extracted as plain text files named [hospitalization_id]__[note_id]_[revision_id].txt. | Issue #141 | Feb 12, 2026 |
| intermittent_dialysis | Concept table capturing intermittent hemodialysis sessions during hospitalization, with per-measurement rows tracking blood flow rate, dialysate flow rate, and net ultrafiltration. | Issue #143 | Feb 17, 2026 |
| input | Concept table capturing patient fluid intake events during hospitalization, replacing the intake side of the former intake_output table. Includes input name, standardized category/group, and volume in mL. | Issue #179 | Mar 5, 2026 |
| model_registry | Concept table cataloging predictive scoring models deployed at the site (model id, name, mCIDE category, version, release date, live flag). Acts as the metadata reference for rows in the scores table; per the 2026-04-30 call, alert thresholds are documented as mCIDE remarks rather than columns. | Issue #186 | May 6, 2026 |
| scores | Concept table storing long-form predictive score outputs emitted by models registered in model_registry, with one row per (model_id, hospitalization_id, recorded_dttm) and the numeric score_value. | Issue #186 | May 6, 2026 |
| radiology | Concept table capturing one row per imaging study — order/capture/report timestamps, the source order name, four mCIDE-controlled columns (modality, region, IV contrast, location), and the final report narrative. | Issue #140 | May 7, 2026 |
| line | Concept table capturing vascular line placements, one row per line with composite key (hospitalization_id, line_id). Tracks placed_dttm/removed_dttm, line_category (cvc, art_line, picc, midline, dialysis_catheter, swan_ganz, cordis, piv), line_site (right/left ij/subclavian/femoral/radial/brachial, other), and lumen_count. Per the steering committee vote, lines/drains/airways are kept as three separate tables rather than a unified LDA table. | Issue #208 | May 28, 2026 |
| drain | Concept table capturing drain placements, one row per drain with composite key (hospitalization_id, drain_id). Tracks placed_dttm/removed_dttm, drain_category (chest_tube, foley, jp_drain, eud, evd, pigtail, ng_tube, og_tube, peg_tube, dobhoff), and free-text anatomical_location. | Issue #208 | May 28, 2026 |
| airway | Concept table capturing airway placements, one row per airway with composite key (hospitalization_id, airway_id). Tracks placed_dttm/removed_dttm, airway_category (ett, trach, npa, opa), airway_size (e.g., 6.0, 7.5), and is_cuffed (0/1). | Issue #208 | May 28, 2026 |
| patient_attributes | Long EAV-style concept table for dynamic patient-level attributes — the time-varying counterpart to the static patient table. Composite key (patient_id, recorded_dttm, attribute_category); 15 permissible attribute_category values covering social, behavioral, functional, reproductive, and administrative domains (housing_status, smoking_status, marital_status, employment_status, food_insecurity, functional_status, organ_donor, pregnancy_status, etc.) rolling up to 6 attribute_group families. Per the steering discussion, BMI is excluded (belongs on vitals), isolation belongs on adt, and insurance belongs on hospitalization. | Issue #211 | May 29, 2026 |
| ed_encounter | Concept table capturing emergency-department workflow not expressible in adt alone — one row per ED encounter keyed by (hospitalization_id, ed_encounter_id). Covers arrival mode, triage system + 5-level acuity, chief complaint, ED disposition, destination after ED, and an observation-pathway flag, each with paired raw-name and standardized-category columns. ed_destination_category permissibles align with hospitalization.discharge_category so post-ED transitions and final hospital outcomes share a vocabulary. Boarding and length-of-stay metrics are intentionally derived downstream from the timestamps rather than stored. | Issue #178 | May 29, 2026 |
New Fields (19 fields added) Last updated: Jun 12, 2026
| Field Name | Table | Description | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| loinc_version | labs | Version or release of the LOINC coding system used for lab_loinc_code (e.g., 1.0 or 1.1) | Issue #122 | Dec 12, 2025 |
| volume_infusion_rate | medication_admin_continuous | Absolute amount of volume administered over time [volume]/[time] (e.g., mL/hr). In contrast to med_dose which measures [quantity of drug]/[time]. (Renamed from infusion_rate per Issue #210.) | Issue #130 | Jan 23, 2026 |
| volume_infusion_rate_unit | medication_admin_continuous | Standardized unit of volume infusion rate per med_category in the format [volume]/[time] (e.g., mL/hr, mL/min). (Renamed from infusion_rate_units per Issue #210.) | Issue #130 | Jan 23, 2026 |
| measured_dttm | vitals | Optional timestamp for when a vital sign was actually measured at the bedside, which can differ from recorded_dttm (the EHR entry time) — e.g., vitals charted at end of shift. Sites without this distinction in source data may omit or leave null. | Issue #192 | May 6, 2026 |
| rx_norm_code | medication_admin_continuous | RxNorm RXCUI code identifying the specific drug formulation (active ingredient, strength, dose form, and route). Resolved from the combination of med_name, med_route_name, med_dose, and med_dose_unit. | Issue #23 | May 6, 2026 |
| rx_norm_code | medication_admin_intermittent | RxNorm RXCUI code identifying the specific drug formulation. Same definition as on medication_admin_continuous. | Issue #23 | May 6, 2026 |
| rx_norm_code | medication_orders | RxNorm RXCUI code identifying the specific drug formulation for the order. Same definition as on the admin tables. | Issue #23 | May 6, 2026 |
| room_id | adt | Free-text identifier for the room the patient was assigned to during this ADT segment. Not standardized across sites. | Issue #193 | May 21, 2026 |
| bed_id | adt | Free-text identifier for the bed the patient was assigned to during this ADT segment. Not standardized across sites. | Issue #193 | May 21, 2026 |
| component_category | transfusion | Maps component_name to a standardized list of blood component categories — cryoprecipitate, plasma, platelets, prbc, whole_blood. | Issue #190 | May 27, 2026 |
| language_interpreter | patient | Binary 0/1 indicator for whether the patient requires a medical interpreter. Captures the patient-level interpreter-needed flag from the source EHR independently of language_category, since not every non-English speaker needs interpretation services and not every English speaker is fluent. | Issue #214 | May 28, 2026 |
| administering_provider_id | medication_admin_continuous | Uniquely identifies the provider who administered the medication. | Issue #139 | May 29, 2026 |
| administering_provider_id | medication_admin_intermittent | Uniquely identifies the provider who administered the medication. | Issue #139 | May 29, 2026 |
| documenting_provider_id | patient_assessments | Uniquely identifies the provider who documented the assessment. | Issue #139 | Jun 5, 2026 |
| order_id | microbiology_culture | Unique identifier for a single microbiology order/specimen, shared across all three method categories (culture, gram stain, smear). Distinguishes separate orders so that two simultaneous orders stay distinguishable. A single order can yield multiple results — each is a separate row sharing this order_id and distinguished by organism_id. For example, a gram stain reporting both GPC and GNR is two rows, just as a culture growing both staph and strep is two rows. | 3.0 mCIDE | Jun 5, 2026 |
| ordering_provider_id | medication_orders | Uniquely identifies the provider who placed the medication order. | Issue #139 | Jun 12, 2026 |
| output_unit | output | Unit of output_value: mL for quantitative fluid volumes, or occurrences for unmeasured/counted events (e.g., number of emesis episodes). Added alongside the output_volume → output_value rename. | Issue #142 | Jun 12, 2026 |
| lda_id | input | Identifier linking an input event to a specific line, drain, or airway (LDA) device, when attributable to one. | Issue #179 | Jun 12, 2026 |
| lda_id | output | Identifier linking an output event to a specific line, drain, or airway (LDA) device, when attributable to one. | Issue #142 | Jun 12, 2026 |
New mCIDE Values (15 updates · 233 new values) Last updated: Jun 12, 2026
| Category | Description | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| device_category (1) | Added t_piece as a new permissible value for respiratory support device categories | Issue #62 | Jan 23, 2026 |
| race_category (1) | Added middle_eastern_or_north_african as a distinct patient.race_category. | Issue #198 | May 4, 2026 |
| med_category (intermittent) (106) | medication_admin_intermittent.med_category added 106 new values — 71 from #200 and 35 HFrEF / cardiac GDMT agents from #221:
| Issue #200, Issue #221 | Jun 12, 2026 |
| med_group (intermittent) (5) | Added 5 new medication_admin_intermittent.med_group values to organize the new med_category additions: anti_hypertensive (ACE inhibitors and ARBs) and contrast_agent (gadolinium and iodinated contrasts) from #200; plus cardiac_glycoside (digoxin), diabetes (SGLT inhibitors), and diuretic (loop and thiazide diuretics) from #221. | Issue #200, Issue #221 | Jun 12, 2026 |
| assessment_category (7) | patient_assessments.assessment_category added 7 new values for pupillometry and intubated-patient pain assessment: pupil_size_l, pupil_size_r, pupil_reactive_l, pupil_reactive_r, npi_l, npi_r (Neurological Pupil index), and cpot_intubated (Critical-Care Pain Observation Tool variant for intubated patients). | Issue #205 | May 12, 2026 |
| med_category (continuous) (2) | medication_admin_continuous.med_category replaced the generic albumin with concentration-specific albumin_5 and albumin_25. | Issue #210 | May 13, 2026 |
| vital_category (2) | vitals.vital_category added 2 new values: intracranial_pressure and pulse_pressure_variation. | Issue #204 | May 13, 2026 |
| mode_category (2) | respiratory_support.mode_category added aprv (airway pressure release ventilation) and t_piece as net-new permissible values. The acronym renames of the existing controlled-ventilation modes (acvc, prvc, ps_or_cpap) are logged separately under Revisions. | Issue #201 | May 21, 2026 |
| order_status_category (4) | New key_icu_orders.order_status_category mCIDE standardizing order statuses: sent, completed, resulted, canceled. | Issue #196 | May 21, 2026 |
| order_category (1) | Added eeg as a new permissible value to key_icu_orders.order_category. | Issue #196 | May 21, 2026 |
| organism_category (nonculture) (21) | Expanded microbiology_nonculture.organism_category with 21 respiratory-virus and atypical-pathogen values, grouped by organism_group:
| 3.0 mCIDE | May 2026 |
| organism_group (nonculture) (8) | New microbiology_nonculture.organism_group mCIDE grouping the non-culture organisms, with 8 new groups: adenovirus, bacteria_other, chlamydia, influenza, mycoplasma, parainfluenza, pneumocystis, rhinovirus (alongside the existing clostridium_difficile, respiratory_syncytial_virus, viral_other). | Issue #209 | May 2026 |
| lab_order_category (11) | Expanded labs.lab_order_category with 11 new categories: aki_biomarkers, bal_panel, cardiac, inflammatory, mixed_venous_blood_gas, peritoneal_fluid_panel, pleural_fluid_panel, poc, tft, urine_chemistry, urine_toxicology. | Issue #203 | Jun 2, 2026 |
| lab_category (57) | Added 57 new labs.lab_category values for fluid panels, urine studies, and additional systemic labs. Fluid-panel and source-specific labs are now de-prefixed — the analyte name lives in lab_category and the fluid source in lab_specimen_category (so e.g. ldh covers serum, pleural, and peritoneal LDH), and the panel in lab_order_category:
| Issue #203 | Jun 2, 2026 |
| lab_specimen_category (5) | New labs.lab_specimen_category mCIDE capturing the fluid a lab is run on (LOINC-aligned), with 5 permissible values: plasma_blood (whole blood/plasma/serum), pleural, peritoneal, urine, and bal. | Issue #203 | Jun 2, 2026 |
Revisions (11 updates) Last updated: Jun 12, 2026
| Area | Description | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| output_volume → output_value | Renamed output.output_volume → output_value and added output_unit so a row can report either a quantitative volume (mL) or an unmeasured count (occurrences, e.g. emesis episodes). | Issue #142 | Jun 12, 2026 |
| assessment_group | Reclassified braden_mobility from Nursing Risk to Mobility/Activity in the patient_assessments mCIDE — Braden mobility is a mobility assessment, not a nursing risk score. | Issue #183 | May 6, 2026 |
| All mCIDE values | 3.0-wide convention: every mCIDE permissible value is now lowercase snake_case. Casing-only renames are not enumerated separately — sites should re-map all categorical values when migrating from 2.x to 3.0. | — | May 7, 2026 |
| discharge_category | Renamed semantic values in the hospitalization.discharge_category mCIDE (separate from the 3.0-wide casing change): Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) → snf, Acute Inpatient Rehab Facility → acute_ip_rehab, Long Term Care Hospital (LTACH) → ltach, Acute Care Hospital → acute_care_hosp, Against Medical Advice (AMA) → ama, Psychiatric Hospital → mental_health_hosp. | Issue #202 | May 7, 2026 |
| med_dose_unit | Standardized med_dose_unit per med_category in the medication_admin_intermittent mCIDE — every category now maps to one of mg, g, mcg, mmol, ml, meq, cells. Sites must convert raw EHR doses to the category-specific unit on ingest. | Issue #184 | May 7, 2026 |
| invasive_hemodynamics | Revised from 2.1: measurement_category expanded 9 → 26 standardized parameters — split ra/rv into rv_systolic/rv_diastolic and added advanced indices cco, co_thermodilution, co_index, co_fick, sv, svv, sv_index, svr, svr_index, evlw, evlw_index, gef, itbv_index, gedv, gedv_index, lvsw_index, tfcd0, tfc, do2. | Issue #44 | May 13, 2026 |
| ecmo_mcs → mcs | Renamed ecmo_mcs → mcs and revised to a long-form schema (one row per setting/measurement). New standardized columns: support_category (ecmo/lvad/rvad), device_category (cardiohelp, rotaflow, centrimag, tandemheart, impella, durable), config_category, and setting_category/setting_value — replacing the prior wide-format columns (flow, sweep_set, fdO2_set, mcs_group, ecmo_configuration_category, control_parameter_*). | Issue #72 | May 13, 2026 |
| device_category | respiratory_support.device_category shortened high_flow_nc → hfnc. | Issue #201 | May 21, 2026 |
| mode_category | respiratory_support.mode_category shortened three controlled-ventilation mode values to acronym form: assist_control_volume_control → acvc, pressure_regulated_volume_control → prvc, pressure_supportcpap → ps_or_cpap. | Issue #201 | May 21, 2026 |
| location_category | Renamed adt location_category l&d → l_and_d for snake_case consistency with other categories. | Issue #206 | May 21, 2026 |
result_dttm | New ETL convention for microbiology_culture.result_dttm and microbiology_nonculture.result_dttm.
result_dttm descriptions and the ETL guide both updated; see the ETL guide microbiology callout for the canonical statement. | Issue #180 | May 29, 2026 |
Version 2.1.0 (November 2025) Current Version
New Tables (7 tables moved to Beta)
New Fields (10 fields added)
| Field Name | Table | Status |
|---|---|---|
| language_category | patient | |
| hospital_type | adt | Issue #78 |
| loinc_code | microbiology | Issue #25 |
| location_type | adt | Issue #39 |
| admission_type_category | hospitalization | Issue #16 |
| device_id | respiratory_support | Issue #67 |
| code_status_category | code_status | |
| geographic_indicators | hospitalization | |
| mar_action_group | medication_admin_intermittent | Issue #112 |
| mar_action_group | medication_admin_continuous | Issue #112 |
New mCIDE Values (14 updates)
| Category | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Medication categories | Additional med_category and med_group for intermittent medications: steroids, vasopressors, CAR-T therapies, analgesics, paralytics, antipsychotics | Issue #105 |
| Inhaled medications | Continuous medications: epoprostenol, nitric oxide | |
| med_route_category | Finalized med route values for medication intermittent and continuous | Issue #6 |
| mar_action_category | Finalized mar action values for medication intermittent and continuous | Issue #112 |
| Non-culture microbiology | Staphylococcus aureus (nasopharynx), C. difficile (stool), RSV (nasopharynx) | |
| ASE CMS antibiotics | Included all qualifying antibiotics added to intermittent meds | Issue #103 |
| Organism categories | ~24 new organism categories with typo corrections and duplicate removal | |
| Continuous medication units | Finalized clif_medication_admin_continuous_med_categories.csv to include standardized med_dose_unit and volume_infusion_rate_unit per med_category | Issue #210 |
| vital_category | Expanded clif_vitals_categories.csv with two new vital categories: intracranial_pressure (invasive ICP monitoring, mmHg) and pulse_pressure_variation (arterial PPV, % — dynamic marker of fluid responsiveness) | Issue #204 |
| lab_category | Added thyroid function tests (TSH, free T3, free T4) to the labs mCIDE | Issue #68 |
| order_category / order_status_category | Expanded key_icu_orders.order_category from PT/OT placeholders to the MIMIC-IV consult list (17 values: pt, social_work, ot, nutrition, swallowing, respiratory, interpreter, skin_care, pain_services, addiction_nurse, speech, pastoral_services, palliative_care, psych_liaison_nurse, et_nurse, eeg, other). Added clif_key_icu_orders_order_status_categories.csv (sent, completed, resulted, canceled) and renamed the schema column order_status_name → order_status_category to align with CLIF name/category convention. | Issue #196 |
| mode_category / device_category | Added aprv and t_piece to respiratory_support.mode_category, and clarified the t_piece device_category description to note it can attach to either an endotracheal tube or a tracheostomy tube | Issue #201 |
| note_type_category | Added clif_clinical_notes_facts_note_type_categories.csv with 12 permissible values for clinical_notes_facts.note_type_category (h_and_p_note, progress_note, consult_note, procedure_note, discharge_summary, transfer_note, therapy_note, nutrition_note, pharmacy_note, nursing_note, case_management_note, death_pronouncement) | Issue #141 |
| lab_category / lab_order_category | Finalized clif_lab_categories.csv and clif_labs_order_categories.csv — incorporates expansion requests #157 (lab_categories) and #191 (BAL results) | Issue #203 |
Revisions (11 updates) Last updated: May 13, 2026
| Area | Description | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medication standardization | Ensure lower and snake-cased med_category values for intermittent medications | ||
| Organism group values | Updated to cleaner and shortened values | ||
| Fluid category values | Updated to cleaner and shortened values | ||
| Lab order categories | Lower and snake-cased; merged ABG/VBG into "blood_gas"; moved lactate to "misc" | Issue #101 | – |
| Microbiology organism groups | Removed mycobacterium_tuberculosis from organism_group | ||
| Combination medications | Removed hydrocodone_acetaminophen and oxycodone_acetaminophen from mCIDE (see ETL notes) | ||
| Patient assessments | SAT/SBT categories: sbt_screen_performed, sat_screen_performed, sbt_delivery_performed, sat_delivery_performed | Issue #107 | – |
| Trial drug mapping | Map trial drugs to 'trial_drug' as med_category, leave med_group empty if placebo | – | |
| Continuous medication mapping | Removed vague categories (repletion, tocolytics); dropped intermittent categories | Issue #120 | Nov 12, 2025 |
| Microbiology organism categories | Consolidated duplicate clostridium_difficile into clostridioides_difficile; added description and expanded organism_name_examples to support both naming conventions | Issue #133 | Jan 2, 2026 |
| Unit field naming standardized | Standardized all unit columns in 3.0 to singular _unit for consistency with med_dose_unit and reference_unit: infusion_rate_units → volume_infusion_rate_unit (medication_admin_continuous, also renames the rate field infusion_rate → volume_infusion_rate per Issue #210); result_units → result_unit (microbiology_nonculture); volume_units → volume_unit (transfusion). | Issue #210 | May 13, 2026 |
Version 2.0.0 (February 2025)
Major ERD Upgrade
- Combined patient and hospitalization tables for improved data structure
- Introduced maturity concept for ERD and tables (Beta, Concept, Future)
- Added comprehensive Beta tables with production-ready structures
- Defined concept tables for future implementation
- Standardized mCIDE (minimum Common ICU Data Elements) across all tables
- Standardized all datetime variables to be time zone aware with UTC format (Issue #40)
- Revision to Micro culture mCIDE for LOINC compatibility – Issue#25
Note: This version represents a major restructuring of the CLIF data format with significant improvements to standardization and interoperability across institutions.
Version 1.0.0
First official release of the Common Longitudinal ICU data Format (CLIF)
- Initial table structure definitions
- Core entity-relationship model
- Foundation for multi-institutional critical care data standardization