This article covers use of the patient manager to merge duplicate patient records.
Common causes of duplicate patient records include but are not limited to:
- incorrect data entered into a modality or EMR and subsequently transmitted to EncaptureMD,
- incorrect data entered directly into EncaptureMD,
- default creation of a patient identifier by a modality such as an ultrasound machine or CT scanner when no unique patient identifier has been entered prior acquiring images.
Regardless of the root cause, patient records should be closely monitored to merge and eliminate duplicates.
Best practice workflows which include the use of unique patient identifiers that do not include protected health information (PHI) and diligent patient identification reduce the incidence of duplicate records while maintaining accurate patient level records within EncaptureMD.
Note: Patient manager access requires the user to have Admin privileges.
- Access patient manager by selecting Patients in the left side panel.
- The screen displays the first 100 records sorted alphanumerically by last name.
- If there are > 100 records, the system displays a message in the top left indicating the number of records displayed.
- Use the column headers to filter for specific patient records not displaying by default.
- In the example below, searching "tes" displays last names starting with "tes"
- Using % as a wildcard in a column header to filter pulls all values containing the desired string
- When the desired records are both displayed in the patient record list, use shift+click or ctrl+click to select both records.
- Right click and select "Merge"
- The "Merge Patients" window displays
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Carefully review each field to validate that the correct information is maintained when the records are merged!
- The far left column displays field names
- The second column displays "Merge Preview" which is a preview of the final state of the patient record based on the fields chosen
- Columns 3 & 4 display the fields for Patient A and Patient B which is the data for the two records selected with options to choose the fields to keep from the two records and the fields to override or merge away
NOTE: In the example below, Patient B record will be kept but the individual fields for Gender Identify, Race, Phone Number and Fax Numbers, and Address from Patient A will be kept rather than the blank fields from Patient B.
- When ready, click "Merge" in the bottom right corner of the window
- "Cancel" is an option if additional validation is needed prior to completing the merge process
NOTE: All studies, name history, encounters and inventory data will be merged for the two records selected!
CAUTION: This action can not be undone!
