Questions about MRNs and Account Numbers

[Jeff Pritchard]

Hello,

When requesting patient data, we get back "identifier" information, including MRN and Account Number. For the test patients, we get more than one of each type, which have a "period" associated with them. The "period" has a "start" and may have an end, but often does not. How do we tell which MRN and account number is the one to use, especially when when they both have start dates but no end dates?

- Jeff

[Jenni Syed (Cerner)]

Hi Jeff,

Usually, you would use the system on the identifier for that/to differentiate between two identifiers of the same type: http://hl7.org/fhir/DSTU2/datatypes-definitions.html#Identifier.system

Since our system host multiple organizations, each organization may have an MRN for a patient.

Regards,

~ Jenni