4.3 Date/Time Format

Columns that provide date and time information conforming to specified rules and formatting requirements ensure clarity, accuracy, and ease of interpretation for both humans and systems.

All date/time related columns, defined in the FOCUS specification, MUST be represented in UTC and follow the ISO 8601 aligned formatting requirements listed below. Provider generated date/time related columns SHOULD also be represented in UTC and conform to the ISO 8601 standard.

Rules and formatting requirements for date/time related columns appearing in billing data.

• Date/time values MUST be in UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) to avoid ambiguity and ensure consistency across different time zones.
• Date/time values format MUST be aligned with ISO 8601 standard, which provides a globally recognized format for representing dates and times (see ISO 8601-1:2019 governing document for details).
• Values providing information about a specific moment in time MUST be represented in the extended ISO 8601 format with UTC offset ('YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ssZ') and conform to the following guidelines:
  • Include the date and time components, separated with the letter 'T'
  • Use two-digit hours (HH), minutes (mm), and seconds (ss).
  • End with the 'Z' indicator to denote UTC (Coordinated Universal Time)

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