When is duplicate prevention performed in the patient management system?

Duplicate prevention in a patient management system occurs primarily during the process of receiving data from incoming interfaces. Specifically, this action is taken when the system fails to locate a patient using their ID and ID type. At this stage, the system must check for potential duplicates to ensure that the records are accurate and that no two separate identities are created for one patient.

This procedure helps maintain data integrity within the system and prevents issues that can arise from having two records for the same patient, which can complicate care coordination and lead to errors in treatment. By confirming the legitimacy of the patient information and cross-referencing it against existing records when a match is not found, the system effectively minimizes duplicate entries right at the point of data ingestion.

In contrast, confirming the patient ID or taking actions during discharge or when sharing data across multiple hospitals does not primarily focus on the immediate prevention of duplicates upon receiving new patient data. Those scenarios are more about ensuring proper patient information management but do not involve the active identification of duplicates at the critical moment of interface data processing.