"The component abstract class is used to represent dependent observations, findings, or procedures associated with the parent clinical statement. A dependent component is a component that does not have an independent existence outside of its parent. For instance, the description of a wound bed must exist in the context of a wound assertion. However, a systolic blood pressure measurement can exist independently of a blood pressure panel. This distinction is important. Collections of independent statements should be represented using the composition structure offered by the CompoundClinicalStatement class. Collections of dependent structures should be modeled using the Component pattern." - HL7 CIMI, Component