Master Patient Index primary keys in health information systems

¶ … row in a database table. It is coded (or 'keyed') so that access to that information can be faster. An example particularly relevant to the field of Health Information Management System, where multiple data is coded and organized in Health-related organizations, would be the names of employees in the hospital. These names would be entered in the database with personal information about each. The key -- or identifier - accorded to each employee would be termed the Primary Key (PK). Initials could be used but that might be confusing were two or more employees to share the same initials. Many organizations use Social Security Numbers as identifiers, but since their use is controversial due to privacy concerns, most organizations have created their own unique identifiers such as (in a health system) employee ID or patient ID, and so forth which they then enter into the database and which the data base system enforces by reminding management, in the event that a duplicate key is inserted, that this code already exists (Chapple, Web).

The Master Patient Index (MPI)

The Master Patient Index (MPI) (otherwise known as the Patient Master Index (MPI) or the EMPI (Enterprise Master Patient Index) (HealthInformatics, Web) is a database that allocates a Primary Key for patient medical record entries on a national and sub-national level. Each patient is registered under a Primary key. This Primary key - called an integration control number and based on a patient's national ID or residency number (VHA, 2008) - ensures that the patient is repeated only once through the entire system and that this particular set of clinical and demographic information is not accidentally replicated.

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) recommends some of the following date elements to be included under each Primary Key (or patient) stub: Patient name; Date of birth; Gender; Race; Ethnicity; Address; Alias or previous name; Social Security Number; Facility identification; Universal patient identifier (if available); Account number; Admission date; Discharge date; Service type; and Patient disposition (HealthInformatics, Web).

In this way, the MPI offers a complete view of the patient's medical and personal information, and is, therefore, extremely beneficial to the health organization on many different levels. As clinical, financial and marketing reporting, clinical, financial and demographic statistics about each patient can be cross-referenced between the different divisions and relevant departments in the system helping the institution keep track of its financial system, and facilitating it in promoting itself by making itself aware of its average patient characteristics and using those in its marketing schemes (VHA, 2008). Physicians can update themselves on patient health information and share the data with colleagues (since all MPI module applications, being Health Level 7 compatible, can be integrated with any medical machine) in order to facilitate their decision-making (OMIS, Web). Easy transferal, updating, and retrieval of accurate patient information is necessary for all parts of the institutions running from clinical, administrative, billing, and Interdepartmental systems such as the Veterans Benefits or Health Administration, aside from which the MPI also quantifies indefinite variables (OMIS, Web).