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Value Set Life Cycle

The Life Cycle of a Value Set

The image shows the life cycle of a typical value set. A value set will move through several statuses: Draft, Proposed, Approved, Ready to Publish, and Published. First, an author creates a value set, and this value set remains in Draft status until the author submits the value set to a steward and the status changes to Proposed. At this point the value set can move back to Draft status if the author withdraws the submission or if the steward rejects the value set pending changes or corrections by the author. When the steward approves the author's Proposed value set, the value set moves to the Approved status. The steward will then decide when to publish the value set: the value set moves to the Ready to Publish Status when the steward selects a publication date. Finally, the value set authority center application expands the value set on the steward-designated publication date and moves the value set to the public VSAC repository, at which point the value set is in the Published status.

Workflow Examples

Value Set Created by an Author User and Reviewed by a Steward User:

VSAC users conceptualize a value set outside of the VSAC and then, assuming that the users do not yet have VSAC authoring permissions, request VSAC administrators to create 2 groups: an author group and a steward group. In this example the groups are called "Example Author" and "Example Steward." Ideally, the steward provides VSAC with a list of users to be placed into each author and steward group. Once VSAC administrators create the groups, the Example Author group creates a new value set using the VSAC Authoring Tool. This creates a value set with the status of Draft, which can be discussed and reviewed by authors and/or stewards using the VSAC Collaboration Tool. Once the draft is ready, the Example Author group submits the value set to the Example Steward group for approval. This changes the status of the value set from Draft to Proposed. The steward group reviews the value set and either rejects or approves it. Authors may also withdraw their submitted value set at this time to continue editing the value set. If the steward group rejects the proposed value set the rejected value set will return to Draft status and the authors will resume editing the value set before resubmitting it for steward approval.

Once the steward approves the value set, the value set status changes from Proposed to Approved. The Example Steward group then submits the value set to be published at 12:01 AM ET on a specific date, automatically changing the value set status from Approved to Ready to Publish. The steward group can withdraw or change the value set status at any time prior to the scheduled publication date. If a steward withdraws the value set prior to publication, this reverts the value set status from Ready to Publish back to Approved. The VSAC application publishes the value set on the requested date, changing the status of the value set from Ready to Publish to Published. The value set is now available in the VSAC public repository, also known as the Search Value Sets tab.

Value Set Created by User Who is Both the Author and Steward:

When a user chooses to be both their own author and their own steward, they can create, edit, approve, withdraw, reject, and publish the value set without the approval of other authors and stewards. The user does not have to collaborate or discuss their value set with other users, although it is highly recommended. For example, a user requests and receives both author and steward permissions from VSAC Administrators. The user can then create a value set using the VSAC Authoring Tool, approve the value set, and submit it for publication, all without having another user or group review, edit, or approve the value set.

For more information on author and steward roles, see the VSAC Author and Steward Roles page. For more information on how to request author or steward permissions, see the VSAC Author Registration page.

Last Reviewed: February 6, 2017