What is a Master Patient Index?

In Health Information Management, using a Master Patient Index or MPI is important to healthcare facilities because it allows healthcare staff to access a previous patient's history quickly and effortlessly. This also helps healthcare workers identify patients with same names or other overlapping data.

Types of data you would expect to see in an Master Patient Index or MPI are:

• Hospital identification number
• Facility identification 
• Account / Visit number
• Name / Alias / Maiden name
• Date of birth
• Gender
• Race / Ethnicity
• Home Address
• Telephone or Cell phone number
• Social Security Number
• Admission date
• Discharge date
• Encounter service type / location
• Primary Physician
• Patient disposition