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Data Element Name:  Medical Record Number
SPARCS Data Element Number:  4
Record Positions:  28 - 44 Format-Length:  A/N - 17
Effective Date:  1/1/1994 Revision Date:               
Definition:

The number used by the Medical Records Department to identify the patient's permanent medical/health record file. This number is not the same as the Patient Control Number (Data Element 03).

Codes and Values:
  1. Must have been left justified with no embedded blanks and space filled.

  2. Must not have equaled zero or blanks.

  3. Must have contained numeric (0-9) and/or alphabetic (A-Z) characters only. Special characters were invalid.
Edit Applications:
  1. Must have been a valid entry.
Conversion Notes:
  1. For pre-1994 records converted from the old ASDAP format, the leading zeroes dropped from the Medical Record Number.