I’m trying to figure if we should store the usage of implanted contraceptive devices like Copper - T as DeviceUseStatement OR as an Observation with Social History category OR both?
The question about contraceptive history is generally asked in the context of sexual history which falls in the larger bucket of Social History. Hence what should be the most appropriate classification of implanted contraceptive devices?
Once we figure this, we do also have the question of storage/model for the non-implant contraceptive methods like the Female Condoms. I believe these should be purely social history observations.
The answer is the same as it would be in the paper world - either or quite possibly both. It’s common for healthcare information to be captured in different ways in different contexts. For device tracking purposes, DeviceUseStatement (or even just the Device itself with a linkage to Patient) would be appropriate. However, use of birth control is absolutely also something that would manifest as a social history observation (albeit typically with less detail about the specifics of the particular device).
I think I figured it, we can create both, an observation record and a deviceUseStatement record and link them via DeviceUseStatement.derivedFrom Observation.