[Gnumed-devel] Re: Schema question re labs

[Karsten Hilbert]

> clin.table.lab-request
> 
> there is a field
> 
>       request_id
> 
> which the schema description says
> 
>       ID this request had when sent to the lab LDT: 8310 HL7:  
> OBR.filler_order_number
> 
> Is this what, in Germany, appears on the labels that you affix to  
> your blood tubes, and is this then the number that is input in the  
> praxis?
Yes.

> In Canada, we would not et this information (which is decided  
> by the lab) until the result came back.
What use, then, is the number ? For us it serves as an anomyizer, IOW the lab 
doesn't even (have to) know patient details. Results are matched to patients by 
this number when they come back from the lab.

> There is also a field
> 
>       lab_request_id
> 
> which is the
> 
>       "ID this request had internally at the lab LDT: 8311"
> 
> which, therefore, is not something that the praxis controls.
Yep. It is their *internal* reference number. In Germany it is intended
to enable anonymized referencing of earlier probes, IOW the praxis sends
the lab internal number along with a new request which enables the lab
to compare results to older requests and still not know the patient.

> In BC  
> Canada, it is however possible for the lab to accept --- on the paper  
> requisition that we complete and provide to the patient --- a  
> reference number that we ourselves can assign, and which the lab will  
> return in field ORC 004 (subject to confirmation).
Sounds like the perfect candidate for request_id to me.

> A candidate reference number that may be good to send would be the pk  
> which is automatically generated in the table ... any reason it would  
> be any bad idea to use this?
Absolutely. The PK is a) an implementation detail which shouldn't leave
the innards of even the local client, b) is illegal to use outside the praxis 
in some jurisdictions, c) is not intended to carry business
meaning, d) is not guaranteed to not change during lab request/results
retrieval (though this is unlikely and best avoided).

Karsten
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