New to HL7, so my apologies and thanks upfront.
What is the procedure for storing data in HL7v3 CDAs that does not fall under the purview of a field in the standard?
For example, I'm trying to store information about Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) worn by the patient and its status during an encounter. I'm specifically trying to contain information about eyewear, helmets, flak jackets, etc.
Is there a 'junk drawer' field that could be co-opted for this purpose? I know that the whole point of v3 is to standardize data forms and impose rigors, but there must be an option for data not encompassed under the current options.
You can extend CDA by adding elements in a different namespace. Note, though, that a lot of implementations don't support this.
An alternative option is to use 'observation'- we observed that the patient was wearing this particular PPE at this time.