Sun Master Patient Index Enterprise Records

An enterprise record is identified by an EUID assigned by Sun Master Patient Index and includes all components of a record that represents one patient. The structure of the data is defined in the Object Definition file.

Sun Master Patient Index stores two different types of records in each enterprise record: system records and a single best record (SBR). A system record contains a patient’s information as it appears in an incoming message from an external system. An enterprise record’s SBR stores data from a combination of external systems and it represents the most reliable and current information contained in all system records for a patient. An enterprise record consists of one or more system records and one SBR.

System Records

The structure of a system record is different from the SBR in that each system record contains a system and local ID pair. The remaining information contained in the system records of an enterprise record is used to determine the best data for the corresponding SBR. If an enterprise record only contains one system record, the SBR is identical to that system record (less the system and local ID information). However, if the enterprise record contains multiple system records, the SBR might be identical to one system record but will more likely include a combination of information from all system records.

The Single Best Record

The SBR for a patient is created from the most reliable information contained in each system record representing that patient. The information used from each external system to populate the SBR is determined by the survivor calculator, which is configured in the Best Record file. This data is determined to be the most reliable information from all system records in the enterprise record. The survivor calculator can consider factors such as the relative reliability of an external system, how recent the data is, and whether the SBR contains any “locked” field values. You define the rules that select a field value to be persisted in the SBR.

Objects in an Enterprise Record

In Sun Master Patient Index, each system record and SBR in an enterprise record typically contain a set of objects that store different types of information about a patient. A record contains one parent object and typically contains several child objects, but it can have no child objects at all. A record can have only one instance of the parent object, but can have multiple instances of each type of child object. For example, in the default configuration, the parent object (Person) contains demographic data. A record can only contain one patient name and social security number (stored in the Person object), but the record could have multiple addresses, telephone numbers, and aliases, which are defined in different child objects (address, phone, and alias objects respectively). A record can have multiple instances of each child object, such as a home and a billing address.

Sun Master Patient IndexIdentification Codes

Another key component of an enterprise record is the identification codes used to identify and cross-reference each patient. Each record in the master index is assigned an enterprise-wide unique identification number (EUID) in addition to the local IDs assigned by the individual systems in the network. Each unique patient has one unique identification number throughout your organization, and a unique identification number within each system with which they are registered. Patients might also have several auxiliary IDs. An auxiliary ID is an identification code that does not necessarily uniquely identify a single patient within the database, but might identify a group of patients. For example, if a family shares the same account or insurance policy, every family member would have the same identification code for that account or policy.