Overwritten ADT Database Entries Explained

Summary

When a Facility has an ADT database for patient information (either from an ADT feed or thru ITC entry), users may find that their entries from previous documents are being overwritten by newer visits. 

Solution

In the ADT database entries are maintained based on the combination of Medical Record Number and Account Number.  While Medical Record Numbers are generally unique to a particular patient, Account Numbers are generally tied to a specific visit for a patient (sometimes referred to as an Encounter Number). 

If an ADT entry for a patient contains only a Medical Record Number, then every time that a new ADT entry is made for that patient, the last entry is overwritten by the latest entry. 

To prevent this from happening, it's important to use both Medical Record Numbers and Account Numbers in ADT entries, so that individual visits can be stored and searched for in the ADT Database. 

If Account Numbers are not available for a particular Facility, consider using some other unique number to put in the Account Number field (example: 20160101 can be put into the Account Number for a patient's visit date of 1/1/2016)