In a unit numbering system, which medical record number should be used to consolidate multiple admissions for the same patient based on the provided example?

In a unit numbering system, which medical record number should be used to consolidate multiple admissions for the same patient based on the provided example?

• A. 25-56-88
• B. 23-33-56
• C. 27-12-12
• D. 23-33-5

Answer: (B)

In unit numbering, each patient has a consistent identifying portion in the medical record number, and the trailing part signals the encounter or admission. When you’re consolidating multiple admissions for the same patient, you use the MRN that keeps the patient’s identity intact and points to the consolidated record with the appropriate encounter code. Here, the patient’s identifier is shared across admissions (the leading parts). The MRN ending in the higher, latest encounter code (56) represents the consolidated record for that patient, tying together the multiple admissions. Using that same patient identity but a smaller or different ending would refer to a separate admission rather than the consolidated file, which isn’t what consolidation aims to achieve. So the MRN 23-33-56 is the one that links all the admissions under a single record for the patient. Options that change the patient-identifying portion or use a different encounter code would not properly consolidate the admissions, which is why they aren’t suitable.

In unit numbering, each patient has a consistent identifying portion in the medical record number, and the trailing part signals the encounter or admission. When you’re consolidating multiple admissions for the same patient, you use the MRN that keeps the patient’s identity intact and points to the consolidated record with the appropriate encounter code.

Here, the patient’s identifier is shared across admissions (the leading parts). The MRN ending in the higher, latest encounter code (56) represents the consolidated record for that patient, tying together the multiple admissions. Using that same patient identity but a smaller or different ending would refer to a separate admission rather than the consolidated file, which isn’t what consolidation aims to achieve. So the MRN 23-33-56 is the one that links all the admissions under a single record for the patient.

Options that change the patient-identifying portion or use a different encounter code would not properly consolidate the admissions, which is why they aren’t suitable.