This page is part of the IHE Patient Demographics Query for Mobile (v2.4.0: Trial Implementation) based on FHIR R4. This is the current published version. For a full list of available versions, see the Directory of published versions

1:38.4 Overview

1:38.4.1 Concepts

The PDQm Profile supports all of the use cases of PDQ while keeping the technology as lightweight as possible. Example uses include:

• Mobile devices used by physicians (for example: a mobile app for electronic patient charts) which need to establish patient context by scanning a bracelet,
• Web based EHR/EMR applications which wish to provide dynamic updates of patient demographic information such as a non-postback search, additional demographic detail, etc.
• A document source/consumer wishing to perform an operation in the IHE Mobile access to Health Documents (MHD) Profile, where patient ID in the appropriate patient ID domain needs to be resolved by the source/consumer,
• A health portal securely exposing demographics data to browser-based plugins,
• Medical devices which need to access patient demographic information. Each of these specific use cases is generalized into two general use cases. The first is one where a system must obtain patient demographics to populate a user interface via a known demographic field (such as bracelet ID) or search parameters provided by a user. The second is as a prerequisite step whereby an application must obtain an identifier from another patient ID domain in order to complete another workflow. This profile is applicable for use by any application which requires access to patient demographics where lightweight REST/JSON or REST/XML is a more suitable technology than traditional PDQ or PDQv3 Profiles.

1:38.4.2 Use Cases

1:38.4.2.1 Use Case #1: Patient Information Entering at Bedside

In this use case an admitted patient is assigned a bed and may not be able to provide positive ID information. The nurse uses the PDQm Profile to establish patient context.

1:38.4.2.1.1 Patient Information Entering at Bedside Use Case Description

An admitted patient is assigned to a bed. The patient may or may not be able to provide positive ID information. The nurse needs to enter patient identity information into some bedside equipment to establish the relationship of the assigned bed to the patient. The equipment issues a query for a patient pick list to a patient demographics supplier that provides data for a patient pick list. Search criteria entered by the nurse might include one or more of the following:

• Partial or complete patient name (printed on the patient record or told by the patient)
• Patient ID (this may be obtained from printed barcode, a bed-side chart, etc.)
• Patient ID entry or scan.
• Date of birth / age range

The system returns a list of patients showing Patient ID, full name, age, sex and displays the list to the nurse. The nurse then selects the appropriate record to enter the patient identity information into the bedside equipment application.

1:38.4.2.2 Use Case #2: Patient Identity Information Entering in Physician Offices

In this use case a patient visits a physician for the first time. The physician system will use the PDQm Profile to import demographics information into the local application.

1:38.4.2.2.1 Patient Identity Information Entering in Physician Offices Use Case Description

A patient visits a physician office for the first time. The nurse needs to register the patient; in doing so, it is desired to record the patient’s demographic data in the practice management information system (PMIS). The physician office is connected to a hospital enterprise’s central patient registry. The nurse issues a patient query request to the central patient registry acting as a Patient Demographics Supplier, with some basic patient demographics data as search criteria. In the returned patient list, she picks an appropriate record for the patient, including the hospital’s Patient ID, to enter into the PMIS. (Note the PMIS uses a different Patient ID domain than that of the central patient registry.)

1:38.4.2.3 Use Case #3: Patient Demographics Query in an Enterprise with Multiple Patient ID Domains

In this use case a lab system obtains identities from multiple Patient ID domains for the purpose of reporting results.

1:38.4.2.3.1 Patient Demographics Query in an Enterprise with Multiple Patient ID Domains Use Case Description

A lab technician enters some basic demographics data (e.g., patient name) into a lab application to query a patient demographics supplier to identify a patient for his lab exams. As the application also needs the patient identifier in another Patient ID Domain in the enterprise for results delivery, the application is configured to query for Patient IDs from other domains in the query response.

1:38.4.3 Basic Process Flow in Patient Demographics Query for Mobile Profile