Practice Brief: Master Patient (Person) Index (MPI)—Recommended
Core Data Elements
Description
An accurate master patient (person) index (MPI), whether in paper or electronic
format, may be considered the most important resource in a healthcare facility
because it is the link tracking patient, person, or member activity within
an organization (or enterprise) and across patient care settings. The MPI
identifies all patients who have been treated in a facility or enterprise
and lists the medical record or identification number associated with the
name.An index can be maintained manually or as part of a computerized system.Retention
of entries depends upon the MPI's use. Typically, those for healthcare facilities
are retained permanently, while those for insurers, registries, or others
may have different retention periods.
Data Elements
Data elements included in the MPI should:
- Accurately match persons being registered for care with their MPI
record
- Minimize duplicate records within a facility and across patient care
settings
- Facilitate merging MPIs to create enterprise MPIs
- Facilitate access to longitudinal patient records
This will speed access to patient information, resulting in significant
benefits for patients and healthcare providers.
To achieve this, AHIMA recommends that the core data elements listed
in Exhibit 1 be included in MPIs.
Exhibit 1
Recommended Core Data Elements to Be Included in MPIs
| Data Element |
Definition |
Data Type*
|
| Internal patient identification |
Primary identifier used by the facility to
identify the patient at admission (e.g., the medical record number)
|
Extended composite ID with check digit |
| Person name |
Legal name of patient or person, including
surname, given name, middle name or initial, name suffixes (e.g. Junior,
IV), prefixes (e.g., Father, Doctor) |
Extended person name |
| Date of birth |
Patient's or person's date of birth. Year,
month, and day of birth are entered (e.g., YYYYMMDD). It is essential
that the year of birth be recorded as four numbers, not just the last
two numbers |
Time stamp |
| Date of birth qualifier |
An indication of whether the date of birth
is the actual date or an estimate. This will distinguish what is known
from what is approximated (e.g. actual, estimate) |
Text data |
| Gender |
Gender of patient (e.g., male, female, unknown,
or undetermined) |
Coded value |
| Race |
Race of patient. Race is a concept used to
differentiate population groups largely on the basis of physical characteristics
transmitted by descent. Races currently used by the federal government
for statistical purposes are American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian
or Pacific Islander, Black, White, and Unknown |
Coded value |
| Ethnicity |
Ethnicity of the patient. Ethnicity is a concept
used to differentiate population groups on the basis of shared cultural
characteristics or geographic origins. Ethnic designations currently
used by the federal government for statistical purposes are Hispanic
origin, not of Hispanic origin, and unknown |
Coded value |
| Address |
Address or location of patient's residence.
Components include the street address, other designation (e.g., apartment
number), city, state/province, zip or postal code, country, type of
address (e.g., permanent, mailing) |
Extended address |
| Alias/previous name |
Any names by which the patient has been known
other than the current legal name, including nicknames, maiden name,
previous name that was legally changed, etc. |
Extended person name |
| Social Security number |
Personal identification number assigend by
the US Social Security Administration |
String data |
| Facility identification |
The unique identification number of a facility
where patients seek care. (The Health Care Financing Administration
is developing auniversal identifier system for healthcare facilities.
Alternately, the American Hospital Association [AHA] numbering system
may be used to identify facilities. The AHA numbering system is maintained
centrally, updated frequently, covers private sector and federal hospitals,
and contains historical data on institutions even if they cease to
exist) |
Person location |
| Universal patient identifier (when established) |
Not yet established |
Not yet established |
| Account number |
Number assigned by the facility billing or
accounting office for all charges and payments for this encounter
|
Extended composite ID with check digit |
| Admission or encounter date |
Date the patient actually arrived for care
(e.g., YYYYMMDD). |
Time stamp |
| Discharge or departure date |
Date the patient actually left the facility
or died (e.g., YYYYMMDD). |
Time stamp |
| Encounter or service type |
A categorization of the encounter such as
emergency, inpatient, outpatient, home care, or electronic (e.g.,
e-mail, Internet, telemedicine) |
Coded value |
| Patient disposition |
Patient's intended care setting following
discharge. Examples include discharge home (not to home health service),
to acute care hospital, to nursing facility, to home to be under the
care of a home health service, or to other healthcare facility; left
against medical advice; alive, other, or alive, not stated; died;
admitted to hospital; admitted to observation; transferred to skilled
nursing facility, intermediate care facility, other facility; or other
disposition as dictated by type of MPI |
Coded value |
| * Data types correspond to those
described in Health Level 7 Version 2.3 (HL7, 1996) and E1238.94 (ASTM,
1994) |
Optional Data Elements
The data elements listed in Exhibit 2 are considered to be optional. Collection
of one or more of these elements may expedite emergency care, facilitate
accurate patient identification during the registration process, and facilitate
retrieval of information in the future. Note, however, that clinical data
elements are sensitive and confidential. As such, access to them should
be limited to those who have a legitimate need to know.
Exhibit 2
Optional Data Elements
| Optional Data Element |
Definition |
| Marital status |
Marriage status of the patient, e.g. never married, married,
separated, widowed, divorced, or unknown |
| Telephone number |
Telephone number at which that patient can be contacted.
This may be a home or business telephone number or the telephone number
of a friend, neighbor, or relative |
| Mother's maiden name |
The maiden name of the patient's mother. The maiden name
is the given, family, or last name of the mother |
| Place of birth |
The city, state, and country of the patient's birth |
| Advance directive and surrogate decision making |
An advance directive describes an individual's current
preferences about treatment should the person become incompetent or
unable to communicate these preferences to medical personnel. Surrogate
decision making is an alternative method for medical decision making
on the individual's behalf; it is invoked in the absence of an advance
directive when the individual is not competent to make an informed
decision |
| Organ donor status |
An indication whether the patient has consented to donate
his/her organ(s) in the eventof death |
| Emergency contact |
The name, address, telephone number, and relationship
of the person whom the patient wishes to be the primary contact if
notification is necessary |
| Allergies/reactions |
Delineation of the patient's history of an allergic reaction
to a medication based on information provided by the patient or a
responsible informant, including the reaction manifestation |
| Problem list |
Master list of all a patient's health problems or diagnoses |
Related Practice Briefs
Related practice briefs published in the Journal of AHIMA are:
Developing Information Capture Tools
(March 1997)
Retention of Health Information (Updated)
(June 1999)
References
American Society of Testing and Materials. 1994 Annual Book of ASTM Standards,
Section 14. "Standard Specification for Transferring Clinical Observations
Between Independent Computer Systems, section E1238-94." Philadelphia, PA:
1994.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Data Elements for Emergency
Department Systems (DEEDS) Release 1.0. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 1996.
Department of Health and Human Services, Health Information Policy Council.
Uniform Hospital Discharge Data Set (UHDDS). Washington, DC: 1984.
Health Level Seven. Health Level 7, Version 2.3. Ann Arbor, MI:
1996.
National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics. Core Health Data
Elements. Hyattsville, MD: 1996.
National Information Infrastructure, Health Information Network. Essential
Medical Data Set (EMDS). Program, 1997.
Statistical Policy Directive 15, Race and Ethnicity Standards for Federal
Statistics and Administrative Reporting. Office of Management and Budget
(OMB). Washington, DC:1977.
Prepared by
AHIMA MPI Task Force:
Lorraine Fernandes, RRA, Chair
Mary Brandt, MBA, RRA, CHE
Dennis Casey, MBA, RRA
Donna M. Fletcher, MPA, RRA
Karen G. Grant, RRA
Christine Petrosky, MBA, RRA
Susan Postal, MBA, RRA
Martha Skeens, MBA, RRA
Vicki Wheatley, MS, RRA
Terry Winter, MEd, RRA, CHE
Acknowledgments
Assistance from the following individuals is gratefully acknowledged:
Tammye Francis, ART, CCS
Sandy Fuller, MA, RRA
Polly E. Nolan, RRA
Harry Rhodes, MBA, RRA
Issued: July/August 1997
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