IMPROVING PATIENT SAFETY THROUGH MRI MODULE MAINTENANCE
By Chris Hall
Maintenance of a software system is a crucial responsibility and a necessary evil. Maintaining
patient unit (medical record) numbers in the Medical Record Indexing (MRI) module is very
important. When multiple unit numbers exist for an individual, then users, such as clinicians,
may be referencing only a fraction of the patient record throughout the suite of applications.
Treatment based on an incomplete history has the potential to create patient safety issues.
In some instances, the Master Patient Index (MPI) is converted to a new system. Prior to
conversion, it is critical to review the MPI and identify the existing duplicate unit numbers.
If possible, the cleanup, such as duplicate unit number merges should take place prior to the
conversion. When the duplicates are included in the MPI Conversion, then the duplicates should
be merged as soon as possible within the newly implemented system.
The following examples illustrate some possible scenarios and the recommended course of
action:
Scenario 1: Patient has two or more unit numbers within Facility A
Recommended Action: The two unit numbers should be merged
Scenario 2: Patient has three unit numbers, in which two unit numbers are within Facility A and one unit number is within Facility B
Recommended Action: It is recommended that in order to merge the unit numbers, resources at the multiple facilities work together to determine the direction of the merge
Scenario 3: Patient has five unit numbers, in which two unit numbers are within Facility A, two unit numbers are within Facility B and one unit number is within Facility C
Recommended Action: It is recommended that in order to merge the unit numbers, resources at the multiple facilities work together to determine the direction of the merge
Scenario 4: Patient has two or more unit numbers within Facility A, in which one unit number is not assigned an EMR ID (Enterprise Number)
Recommended Action: It is recommended to merge the unit numbers after reviewing each unit number’s visits and most recent activity to determine the unit number merge direction. If the unit number with an unassigned EMR ID is kept, the timing of the EMR ID assignment is dependent on the system’s current release and setup
Scenario 5: Patient has multi-facility unit numbers, in which a portion of the unit numbers are not assigned EMR ID’s (Enterprise numbers).
Recommended Action: It is recommended that in order to merge the unit numbers, resources at the multiple facilities work together to determine the direction of the merge.
Within the MEDITECH MRI Module, there are many efficient ways to maintain the duplicate unit
numbers. Processes can be developed in order to review and correct the duplicate unit numbers.
The duplicate unit number maintenance processes should include processes for a single facility,
for multiple facilities and for third party vendor software.
For more information about our MEDITECH practice and how VCS can help your organization, please
call us at 610-444-1233 or visit our website at www.getvitalized.com