• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

PPV: Employ an MPI clerk to control duplicate medical record numbers, clean up your MPI

EHR Connection, March 31, 2008

Most organizations have experienced the frustration of dealing with duplicate medical record numbers in the master patient index-specifically, multiple numbers that staff members assign to the same patient.

Duplicate numbers can occur for a variety of reasons:

• The patient's name differs from that used previously at the facility
• The patient is unable to provide sufficient information to identify himself or herself during the encounter
• Information previously entered into the registration system was inaccurate
• An employee is not thorough when using the information system to determine whether the individual is a new patient
• An employee fails to ask the patient whether he or she is new to the facility
• The facility uses an "auto" or "fast" registration process that doesn't investigate whether the individual has been a patient in the past
• The system is down at the time of patient care and a temporary number is assigned
• The patient registers under an alias

An HIM specialist whose primary focus is the master patient index (MPI)-the hospitalwide database that contains each unique medical record number-is one way to verify and manage duplicate numbers, says Denise A. Perry, MSM, RHIA, director of health information services for Arnot Ogden Medical Center in Elmira, NY.

Click here to learn how to avoid or remedy the problem of duplicate medical record numbers.

The cost is $10. Medical Records Briefing subscribers can sign on for free access.

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive