General Best Practices for Capturing Patient Demographic Data

Most systems use a small set of patient demographic data elements to find records and match them together. While some systems may only use one or two data elements from the list below, others may use all of them:

• First and Last Name
• Date of Birth
• Address
• Phone Number
• Sex/Gender

This chapter will focus on some overall best practices for capturing these demographic data elements, and some best practices for each data element.

2.1 General Dos and Don’ts of Capturing Patient Demographic Data

When the patient is present

DO ask to see the patient’s license, insurance card, or government issued ID and use the demographic information on the ID to put into the system.

DO provide the patient with their demographic information in writing, and ask them to review it to ensure all fields are up to date and spelled correctly. This may be done by showing the patient the computer screen with their demographic information. If you print out their information DO ensure you properly dispose of the printout by shredding it.

When the patient is spoken with over the phone

DO request that the patient spell his/her first name, last name, and address (i.e. the street name, city, etc.).