diff --git a/hapi-fhir-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/model/base/composite/BaseCodingDt.java b/hapi-fhir-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/model/base/composite/BaseCodingDt.java
index ae028096768..aefeb55e392 100644
--- a/hapi-fhir-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/model/base/composite/BaseCodingDt.java
+++ b/hapi-fhir-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/model/base/composite/BaseCodingDt.java
@@ -91,6 +91,46 @@ public abstract class BaseCodingDt extends BaseIdentifiableElement implements IC
 		return getCodeElement().equals(theCoding.getCodeElement()) && getSystemElement().equals(theCoding.getSystemElement());
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * returns true if <code>this</code> Coding matches a search for the coding specified by <code>theSearchParam</code>, according
+	 * to the following:
+	 * <ul>
+	 *		<li>[parameter]=[namespace]|[code] matches a code/value in the given system namespace</li>
+	 *		<li>[parameter]=[code] matches a code/value irrespective of it's system namespace</li>
+	 *		<li>[parameter]=|[code] matches a code/value that has no system namespace</li>
+	 * </ul>
+	 * @param theSearchParam - coding to test <code>this</code> against
+	 * @return true if the coding matches, false otherwise
+	 */
+	public boolean matchesToken(BaseCodingDt theSearchParam) {
+		if (theSearchParam.isSystemPresent()) {
+			if (theSearchParam.isSystemBlank()) {
+				//  [parameter]=|[code] matches a code/value that has no system namespace
+				if (isSystemPresent() && !isSystemBlank())
+					return false;
+			} else {
+				//  [parameter]=[namespace]|[code] matches a code/value in the given system namespace
+				if (!isSystemPresent())
+					return false;
+				if (!getSystemElement().equals(theSearchParam.getSystemElement()))
+					return false;
+			}
+		} else {
+			//  [parameter]=[code] matches a code/value irrespective of it's system namespace
+			// (nothing to do for system for this case)
+		}
+
+		return getCodeElement().equals(theSearchParam.getCodeElement());
+	}
+
+	private boolean isSystemPresent() {
+		return !getSystemElement().isEmpty();
+	}
+
+	private boolean isSystemBlank() {
+		return isSystemPresent() && getSystemElement().getValueAsString().equals("");
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Sets the value for <b>code</b> (Symbol in syntax defined by the system)
 	 *
@@ -109,4 +149,5 @@ public abstract class BaseCodingDt extends BaseIdentifiableElement implements IC
 	 */
 	public abstract BaseCodingDt setSystem(String theUri);
 
+
 }
diff --git a/hapi-fhir-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/rest/param/TokenOrListParam.java b/hapi-fhir-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/rest/param/TokenOrListParam.java
index ad733aee9ce..aeb7bdb093b 100644
--- a/hapi-fhir-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/rest/param/TokenOrListParam.java
+++ b/hapi-fhir-base/src/main/java/ca/uhn/fhir/rest/param/TokenOrListParam.java
@@ -94,4 +94,15 @@ public class TokenOrListParam extends BaseOrListParam<TokenParam> {
 		return new TokenParam();
 	}
 
+	public boolean doesCodingListMatch(List<? extends BaseCodingDt> theCodings) {
+		List<BaseCodingDt> paramCodings = getListAsCodings();
+		for (BaseCodingDt coding : theCodings) {
+			for (BaseCodingDt paramCoding : paramCodings) {
+				if (coding.matchesToken(paramCoding)) {
+					return true;
+				}
+			}
+		}
+		return false;
+	}
 }
diff --git a/hapi-fhir-structures-dstu/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/model/base/composite/BaseCodingDtTest.java b/hapi-fhir-structures-dstu/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/model/base/composite/BaseCodingDtTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3de4d73e83b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hapi-fhir-structures-dstu/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/model/base/composite/BaseCodingDtTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+package ca.uhn.fhir.model.base.composite;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+import ca.uhn.fhir.model.dstu.composite.CodingDt;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+/**
+ * Created by Bill de Beaubien on 12/30/2014.
+ */
+public class BaseCodingDtTest {
+    private final CodingDt myTokenWithSystem = new CodingDt("http://foo.org", "53");
+    private final CodingDt myTokenWithEmptySystem = new CodingDt("", "53");
+    private final CodingDt myTokenWithoutSystem = new CodingDt(null, "53");
+
+    // [parameter]=[namespace]|[code] matches a code/value in the given system namespace
+    @Test
+    public void whenTokenIncludesSystem_CodingWithSameSystemAndCode_shouldMatch() {
+        assertTrue(new CodingDt("http://foo.org", "53").matchesToken(myTokenWithSystem));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void whenTokenIncludesSystem_CodingWithDifferentSystem_shouldNotMatch() {
+        assertFalse(new CodingDt("http://bar.org", "53").matchesToken(myTokenWithSystem));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void whenTokenIncludesSystem_CodingWithBlankSystem_shouldNotMatch() {
+        assertFalse(new CodingDt("", "53").matchesToken(myTokenWithSystem));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void whenTokenIncludesSystem_CodingWithNoSystem_shouldNotMatch() {
+        assertFalse(new CodingDt(null, "53").matchesToken(myTokenWithSystem));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void whenTokenIncludesSystem_CodingWithSameSystemAndDifferentCode_shouldNotMatch() {
+        assertFalse(new CodingDt("http://foo.org", "11").matchesToken(myTokenWithSystem));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void whenTokenIncludesSystem_CodingWithSameSystemAndNoCode_shouldNotMatch() {
+        assertFalse(new CodingDt("http://foo.org", null).matchesToken(myTokenWithSystem));
+    }
+
+    // [parameter]=[code] matches a code/value irrespective of it's system namespace
+    @Test
+    public void whenTokenIncludesNoSystem_CodingWithAnySystemAndCode_shouldMatch() {
+        assertTrue(new CodingDt("http://foo.org", "53").matchesToken(myTokenWithoutSystem));
+        assertTrue(new CodingDt("http://bar.org", "53").matchesToken(myTokenWithoutSystem));
+        assertTrue(new CodingDt("", "53").matchesToken(myTokenWithoutSystem));
+        assertTrue(new CodingDt(null, "53").matchesToken(myTokenWithoutSystem));
+    }
+
+    // [parameter]=|[code] matches a code/value that has no system namespace
+    @Test
+    public void whenTokenIncludesEmptySystem_CodeWithNoSystem_shouldMatch() {
+        assertTrue(new CodingDt(null, "53").matchesToken(myTokenWithEmptySystem));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void whenTokenIncludesEmptySystem_CodeWithBlankSystem_shouldMatch() {
+        assertTrue(new CodingDt("", "53").matchesToken(myTokenWithEmptySystem));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void whenTokenIncludesEmptySystem_CodeWithSystem_shouldNotMatch() {
+        assertFalse(new CodingDt("http://bar.org", "53").matchesToken(myTokenWithEmptySystem));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/hapi-fhir-structures-dstu/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/rest/param/TokenOrListParamTest.java b/hapi-fhir-structures-dstu/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/rest/param/TokenOrListParamTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2c941236ab7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hapi-fhir-structures-dstu/src/test/java/ca/uhn/fhir/rest/param/TokenOrListParamTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+package ca.uhn.fhir.rest.param;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+
+import ca.uhn.fhir.model.dstu.composite.CodingDt;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+public class TokenOrListParamTest {
+    @Test
+    public void whenParamListHasAnyMatchingCodingsForCodingList_doesCodingListMatch_shouldBeTrue() {
+        TokenOrListParam params = new TokenOrListParam();
+        params.add("http://foo.org", "53");
+        params.add("http://bar.org", "52");
+
+        List<CodingDt> codings = new ArrayList<CodingDt>();
+        codings.add(new CodingDt("http://baz.org", "53"));
+        codings.add(new CodingDt("http://bar.org", "52"));
+
+        assertTrue(params.doesCodingListMatch(codings));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void whenParamListHasNoMatchingCodingsForCodingList_doesCodingListMatch_shouldBeFalse() {
+        TokenOrListParam params = new TokenOrListParam();
+        params.add("http://foo.org", "53");
+        params.add("http://bar.org", "52");
+
+        List<CodingDt> codings = new ArrayList<CodingDt>();
+        codings.add(new CodingDt("http://baz.org", "53"));
+        codings.add(new CodingDt("http://bar.org", "11"));
+
+        assertFalse(params.doesCodingListMatch(codings));
+    }
+}