DeviceDispense
The effective dispense of a medical device to a patient: pump, prosthesis, hearing aid, glucometer. The device counterpart of MedicationDispense in FHIR.
Purpose
DeviceDispense documents the physical event of handing a device to the patient or their carer: stock issuance, recipient identification, usage instructions. Typical cases: discharge equipment fitting, telemedicine with connected blood-pressure cuff shipment, long-term oxygen rental.
Key elements
| Field | Type | Cardinality | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
identifier | Identifier[] | 0..* | Dispense identifiers. |
basedOn | Reference(CarePlan | DeviceRequest)[] | 0..* | Originating request. |
partOf | Reference(Procedure)[] | 0..* | Parent procedure. |
status | code | 1..1 | `preparation`, `in-progress`, `cancelled`, `on-hold`, `completed`, `entered-in-error`, `stopped`, `declined`, `unknown`. |
category | CodeableConcept | 0..1 | Category (inpatient, outpatient, community). |
device | CodeableReference(Device) | 1..1 | Dispensed device. |
subject | Reference(Patient | Practitioner) | 1..1 | Recipient. |
receiver | Reference(Patient | Practitioner | RelatedPerson | Location | PractitionerRole) | 0..1 | Physical receiver. |
quantity | Quantity | 0..1 | Dispensed quantity. |
whenHandedOver | dateTime | 0..1 | Hand-over date/time. |
destination | Reference(Location) | 0..1 | Delivery destination. |
JSON example
{
"resourceType": "DeviceDispense",
"id": "example-cgm-dispense",
"basedOn": [{
"reference": "DeviceRequest/cgm-request-001"
}],
"status": "completed",
"category": {
"coding": [{
"system": "http://terminology.hl7.org/CodeSystem/devicedispense-category",
"code": "outpatient"
}]
},
"device": {
"reference": {
"reference": "Device/cgm-dexcom-g7"
}
},
"subject": {
"reference": "Patient/diabetic-12345"
},
"performer": [{
"actor": {
"reference": "Practitioner/endocrinologist-001"
}
}],
"quantity": {
"value": 1,
"unit": "kit"
},
"whenHandedOver": "2026-05-15T14:00:00+00:00",
"usageInstruction": "Appliquer un nouveau capteur tous les 10 jours."
}Common pitfalls
- DeviceDispense vs DeviceUsage: Dispense covers physical hand-over, Usage covers patient-stated usage.
- No basedOn: no prescription trace, regulatory compliance issue.
- whenHandedOver vs Period: for rentals, prefer status='in-progress' + Period rather than a one-off dispense.
Related resources
- device — device.
- devicerequest — request.
- deviceusage — usage statement.
- deviceassociation — patient–device association.