ACT Health Implements IDs for ACT Patients
ACT Health implemented Phase 1 of the Patient Master Index (PMI) application on 8 September 2008. This application provides the foundation for a PMI solution to facilitate the accurate and efficient identification of patients across all ACT Health services and systems. It is based on a federated data model that seeks to manage the existing patient identifiers generated in multiple registration systems operating across institutional boundaries within ACT Health.Patient records from the key patient registration sources systems will be linked in the PMI such that ACT Health services and systems operating across institutional boundaries can identify a patient by any or all of the multiple patient identification records. This will prevent the fragmentation of patient records and clinical information between these service boundaries but will still provide the ability for different institutions to track their service events and episodes to meet administrative requirements such as billing and medical record management.
The establishment of a patient identity management solution is a key architectural prerequisite to support the clinical objectives of the ACT Health electronic health record and national electronic health record initiatives.