[LT-06]
The MRN Format Fragmentation Problem
The United States has approximately 6,100 hospitals, each operating its own electronic health record system with its own Medical Record Number format. There is no national MRN standard. The Joint Commission, which accredits healthcare organizations, specifies that MRNs must uniquely identify patients within a system — but does not specify the format.
The consequence: MRN formats in the wild include 7-digit integers, 8-digit integers, alphanumeric string...