# Null values

<mark style="color:$danger;">**This Editorial Guide is used for Education Purposes Only. It is used in the Authoring Courses and Certifications. It is based on the January 2026 Editorial Guide.**</mark>

## Representing null values

The addition of new precoordinated content in the Clinical finding (finding) hierarchy that specifies null values, such as 'not recorded', is unacceptable.\
There is a use case for recording the reason that data are missing; however, this information should be recorded using a concept from the Qualifier value (qualifier value) subhierarchy rather than a Clinical finding (finding) concept.

{% hint style="info" %}
New qualifier values of this type should be agnostic as to what data are missing but support the reason why the data are missing.
{% endhint %}

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