FHIR CI-Build
DevicesThis is the Continuous Integration Build of FHIR (will be incorrect/inconsistent at times).
See the Directory of published versions 
| Responsible Owner: Orders and Observations Work Group | Draft | Security Category: Patient | Compartments: Device, Group, Patient, Practitioner, RelatedPerson |
A record of association or dissociation of a device with a subject (e.g. patient) and/or operator.
Note to Balloters: To ensure the DeviceAssociation resource is ready for Normative status, we are seeking ballot comments on the substantive content. The key changes made since R5 include:
- Collapsed the DeviceAssociation.operation backbone into the other elements (e.g., DeviceAssociation.relationship now includes the operator role).
- DeviceAssociation.category was renamed DeviceAssociation.relationship and given an extensible value set.
- Added DeviceAssociation.relationshipStatus.
- Updated search parameters to address the changes.
Release Notes (pending alternative process review with FMG):
DeviceAssociation records a relationship between a device and a subject (or alternatively a focus entity). The relationship might be as an owner, user, maintainer, etc. of the device. The scope covers all devices including, but not limited to: implantables, wheelchairs, RTLS, personal health and point of care devices, diagnostic, imaging and durable medical equipment. This resource is intended to apply to any delivery environment and discipline where a device association is useful to record.
The subjects may include:
In some cases a focus may be specified in addition to the subject, such as:
DeviceAssociation can be thought of as expressing the statement "[ device ] [ relationship ] with [ subject ]" or "[ device ] [ relationship ] with [ focus ] for [ subject ]." For example:
| Summary | Device | Relationship | Subject | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| An endoscope is used by a surgeon on a patient | Endoscope | used-by |
Patient/patient |
Practitioner/surgeon |
| A continuous glucose monitor is worn by a patient | Continuous glucose monitor | worn-by |
Patient/patient |
|
| A crib is leased by a parent for an infant | Crib | leased-by |
Patient/infant |
RelatedPerson/parent |
| A pager is assigned to the lead nurse of the on-call care team | Pager | assigned-to |
CareTeam/care-team |
PractitionerRole/nurse |
| An RFID tag tracks a wheelchair | RFID tag | attached-to |
Device/wheelchair |
|
| A temperature sensor is installed in a clean room | Temperature sensor | installed-at |
Location/clean-room |
|
| A ventilator is maintained by a biomed engineering department | Ventilator | maintained-by |
Organization/biomed-engineering |
|
| A battery backup unit powers a freezer monitor | Battery backup unit | powers |
Device/freezer-monitor |
|
| A bioreactor maintains a biologically derived product culture | Bioreactor | maintains |
BiologicallyDerivedProduct/culture1 |
|
| A mixing system maintains a substance during processing | Mixing system | maintains |
Substance/substance1 |
when documenting a patient’s use of a device — typically clinical history or their ongoing reliance on the device.These resources may be used together — for example, a procedure may establish or end an association, while DeviceUsage captures continued patient use.
Events involving devices are primarily recorded using clinical or workflow resources ([Encounter], [Procedure], [Observation], [Task]). Those resource connect the device with the event. DeviceAssociation primarily records the association with the device for administrative or traceability purposes, or for longer term relationships outside a specific event. There may be some overlap between these records to support specific traceability needs for a device, particularly when there are patient safety or contamination concerns present.
To track changes in settings, the Observation resource can be used, where Observation.subject references the Device that the settings apply to. The patient associated with the device at that time can be determined by searching for DeviceAssociations where DeviceAssociation.period includes the Observation.effective[x].
No references for this Resource.
Structure
See the Extensions for this resource
UML Diagram (Legend)
XML Template
<DeviceAssociation xmlns="http://hl7.org/fhir"><!-- from Resource: id, meta, implicitRules, and language --> <!-- from DomainResource: text, contained, extension, and modifierExtension --> <identifier><!-- 0..* Identifier Instance identifier --></identifier> <device><!-- 1..1 Reference(Device) Reference to the device that is being associated --></device> <relationship><!-- 1..1 CodeableConcept Describes the relationship between the device and subject --></relationship> <status value="[code]"/><!-- 1..1 active | inactive | entered-in-error | unknown --> <statusReason><!-- 0..1 CodeableConcept The reasons given for the current Device Association status --></statusReason> <relationshipStatus><!-- 0..1 CodeableConcept State of the device association's relationship --></relationshipStatus> <subject><!-- 1..1 Reference(BiologicallyDerivedProduct|CareTeam|Device|Group| Location|Medication|NutritionProduct|Organization|Patient|Practitioner| PractitionerRole|Specimen|Substance) The entity or group that, nominally, the association is with --></subject> <focus><!-- 0..1 Reference(BiologicallyDerivedProduct|CareTeam|Device|Group| Location|Medication|NutritionProduct|Organization|Patient|Practitioner| PractitionerRole|RelatedPerson|Specimen|Substance) The entity or group that the association is with, if not the subject --></focus> <bodyStructure><!-- 0..* CodeableReference(BodyStructure) Current anatomical location(s) of the device in/on subject --></bodyStructure> <period><!-- 0..1 Period Begin and end dates and times for the device association --></period> </DeviceAssociation>
JSON Template
{
"resourceType" : "DeviceAssociation",
// from Resource: id, meta, implicitRules, and language
// from DomainResource: text, contained, extension, and modifierExtension
"identifier" : [{ Identifier }], // Instance identifier
"device" : { Reference(Device) }, // R! Reference to the device that is being associated
"relationship" : { CodeableConcept }, // R! Describes the relationship between the device and subject
"status" : "<code>", // R! active | inactive | entered-in-error | unknown
"statusReason" : { CodeableConcept }, // The reasons given for the current Device Association status
"relationshipStatus" : { CodeableConcept }, // State of the device association's relationship
"subject" : { Reference(BiologicallyDerivedProduct|CareTeam|Device|Group|
Location|Medication|NutritionProduct|Organization|Patient|Practitioner|
PractitionerRole|Specimen|Substance) }, // R! The entity or group that, nominally, the association is with
"focus" : { Reference(BiologicallyDerivedProduct|CareTeam|Device|Group|
Location|Medication|NutritionProduct|Organization|Patient|Practitioner|
PractitionerRole|RelatedPerson|Specimen|Substance) }, // The entity or group that the association is with, if not the subject
"bodyStructure" : [{ CodeableReference(BodyStructure) }], // Current anatomical location(s) of the device in/on subject
"period" : { Period } // Begin and end dates and times for the device association
}
Turtle Template
@prefix fhir: <http://hl7.org/fhir/> .
Changes from R5 to R6
| DeviceAssociation | |
| DeviceAssociation.relationship |
|
| DeviceAssociation.status |
|
| DeviceAssociation.statusReason |
|
| DeviceAssociation.relationshipStatus |
|
| DeviceAssociation.subject |
|
| DeviceAssociation.focus |
|
| DeviceAssociation.bodyStructure |
|
| DeviceAssociation.period |
|
| DeviceAssociation.period |
|
| DeviceAssociation.operation |
|
Changes from R4B to R6
This resource did not exist in Release R4B
Changes from R4 to R6
This resource did not exist in Release R4
See the Full Difference for further information
This analysis is available for R4 as XML or JSON and for R4B as XML or JSON.
Structure
See the Extensions for this resource
XML Template
<DeviceAssociation xmlns="http://hl7.org/fhir">
JSON Template
{
"resourceType" : "DeviceAssociation",
// from Resource: id, meta, implicitRules, and language
// from DomainResource: text, contained, extension, and modifierExtension
"identifier" : [{ Identifier }], // Instance identifier
"device" : { Reference(Device) }, // R! Reference to the device that is being associated
"relationship" : { CodeableConcept }, // R! Describes the relationship between the device and subject
"status" : "<code>", // R! active | inactive | entered-in-error | unknown
"statusReason" : { CodeableConcept }, // The reasons given for the current Device Association status
"relationshipStatus" : { CodeableConcept }, // State of the device association's relationship
"subject" : { Reference(BiologicallyDerivedProduct|CareTeam|Device|Group|
Location|Medication|NutritionProduct|Organization|Patient|Practitioner|
PractitionerRole|Specimen|Substance) }, // R! The entity or group that, nominally, the association is with
"focus" : { Reference(BiologicallyDerivedProduct|CareTeam|Device|Group|
Location|Medication|NutritionProduct|Organization|Patient|Practitioner|
PractitionerRole|RelatedPerson|Specimen|Substance) }, // The entity or group that the association is with, if not the subject
"bodyStructure" : [{ CodeableReference(BodyStructure) }], // Current anatomical location(s) of the device in/on subject
"period" : { Period } // Begin and end dates and times for the device association
}
Turtle Template
@prefix fhir: <http://hl7.org/fhir/> .
Changes from R5 to R6
| DeviceAssociation | |
| DeviceAssociation.relationship |
|
| DeviceAssociation.status |
|
| DeviceAssociation.statusReason |
|
| DeviceAssociation.relationshipStatus |
|
| DeviceAssociation.subject |
|
| DeviceAssociation.focus |
|
| DeviceAssociation.bodyStructure |
|
| DeviceAssociation.period |
|
| DeviceAssociation.period |
|
| DeviceAssociation.operation |
|
Changes from R4B to R6
This resource did not exist in Release R4B
Changes from R4 to R6
This resource did not exist in Release R4
See the Full Difference for further information
This analysis is available for R4 as XML or JSON and for R4B as XML or JSON.
Additional definitions: Master Definition XML + JSON, XML Schema/Schematron + JSON Schema, ShEx (for Turtle) + see the extensions, the spreadsheet version & the dependency analysis
| Path | ValueSet | Type | Documentation |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeviceAssociation.relationship | DeviceAssociationRelationshipCodes | Example | DeviceAssociation Relationship Codes |
| DeviceAssociation.status | DeviceAssociationStatusCodes | Required | DeviceAssociation Status Codes |
| DeviceAssociation.statusReason | DeviceAssociationStatusReasonCodes | Preferred | DeviceAssociation Status Reason Codes |
| DeviceAssociation.relationshipStatus | DeviceAssociationRelationshipStatus (a valid code from DeviceAssociation Relationship Status Codes) | Preferred | Codes that describe the lifecycle state of a DeviceAssociation relationship. |
| DeviceAssociation.bodyStructure | SNOMEDCTBodyStructures | Example | This value set includes all codes from SNOMED CT |
Search parameters for this resource. See also the full list of search parameters for this resource, and check the Extensions registry for search parameters on extensions related to this resource. The common parameters also apply. See Searching for more information about searching in REST, messaging, and services.
| Name | Type | Description | Expression | In Common |
| date | date | Search for associations at or within specific times | DeviceAssociation.period | |
| device | reference | Search for products that match this code | DeviceAssociation.device (Device) |
|
| focus | reference | The focus of an association. | DeviceAssociation.focus (Group, Organization, CareTeam, BiologicallyDerivedProduct, Device, Patient, PractitionerRole, RelatedPerson, Practitioner, Specimen, NutritionProduct, Medication, Substance, Location) |
|
| identifier | token | The identifier of the device association | DeviceAssociation.identifier | |
| patient | reference | The patient associated with the device | DeviceAssociation.subject.where(resolve() is Patient) (Patient) |
57 Resources |
| relationship | token | Search for specific device association relationships | DeviceAssociation.relationship | |
| status | token | The status of the device associations | DeviceAssociation.status | |
| subject | reference | The identity of the individual(s) or entity for whom to list associations | DeviceAssociation.subject (Group, Organization, CareTeam, BiologicallyDerivedProduct, Device, Patient, PractitionerRole, Practitioner, Specimen, NutritionProduct, Medication, Substance, Location) |
FHIR ®© HL7.org 2011+. FHIR R6 hl7.fhir.r6.core#6.0.0-ballot4 generated on Thu, Jun 25, 2026 19:13+0000.
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