Workflow 1: Register and Identify a Patient

General Description

Using the EHR, the provider identifies the patient either by locating the patient’s record in the EHR or other clinical software system or by adding a new patient.

Software Capabilities Within This Workflow

Who Performs the Workflow

  • Clinicians (physicians, nurses, and other personnel who assist with providing immunizations)
  • Patients or caregivers with permission to access an individual’s information in a personal health record (PHR) or through external access to the provider’s EHR (e.g., a portal)

Patient information may also be sent to other approved providers or public health organizations, such as the immunization registry (sometimes called an immunization information system, or IIS)

Examples of Other Work Related to This Workflow

  • Anyone using an EHR or PHR to review or enter information for any reason must be able to find a patient. This ability is not unique to providing or reviewing immunizations.
  • Some suggest a need for a unique, national patient identifier.[1] Others recommend common matching procedures, or algorithms.[2],[3]
  • Considerable effort is underway in other settings to address unique patient identification.[4]
  • Note that the process assumes privacy and security is managed for all users of the EHR.
  • This workflow does not include any specific immunization-related privacy and security capabilities.

[1]Zieger A. Would national patient identifiers work? EMR & EHR Forum. January 25, 2012. Available at: http://www.emrandehr.com/2012/01/25/would-national-patient-identifiers-work/. Accessed 30 November 2014.

[2] Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. ONC launches patient matching initiative, Health IT Buzz. September 11, 2013. Available at: http://www.hitechanswers.net/onc-launches-patient-matching-initiative/. Accessed 30 November 2014.

[3] Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. SAFER: Safety Assurance Factors for EHR Resilience: Patient Identification. January 2014. Available at: http://www.healthit.gov/policy-researchers-implementers/safer/guide/sg006. Accessed 30 November 2014.

[4] Audacious Inquiry. Patient Identification and Matching Final Report. February 7, 2014. Prepared for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology under Contract HHSP233201300029C. Available at: http://www.healthit.gov/sites/default/files/patient_identification_matching_final_report.pdf. Accessed 30 November 2014.