title: The Universal Patient Identifier: a discussion and proposal.
abstract: The broad-based need for a standard, robust patient identifier is reviewed. Advantages and difficulties of the Social Security Number are considered. An alternative number, composed of birthdate, location, and check digits, is proposed. Logistic extensions of the geographically based schema are made for provider and facility identification. Several variations of representation are described in base 34, which make the composite number short, easily derived and decoded, and robust.
authors.affiliation: Division of Endocrinology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Carpenter
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Chute
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008433:Mathematics; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized; D010355:Patient Identification Systems / Q000379:methods*