Merge two patient records
There should only be one radiology record for a patient in a Cris system (i.e. a group / consortium), and that record should be used by all sites in the group. Merging joins two radiology records from different hospitals.
Duplicate records, same hospital
If you find more than one radiology record for a patient and all have a different hospital number at your own hospital, ask your PAS team to merge the PAS records. This will automatically update Cris. The merge message will also merge image folders on PACS.
Tip:
Records which have been flagged as duplicates can be found via the Cris Log.
Duplicate records, different hospitals
If you find more than one radiology record for a patient, one with a hospital number from your hospital, one or more with no hospital number (this indicates another hospital / Trust), merge the records to the primary record (usually the lowest Cris number).
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Search for the patient.
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From the Search screen click the record which is to be the primary record.
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Click the Select button.
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Select Tools > Server > Merge Patients.
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Enter the Cris number of the record to be merged in the Cris No field.
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Press the Enter key.
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Drag all hospital numbers from the Hospital Numbers on merged patient field (right) to the Hospital Numbers on active patient field (left).
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Click the Merge button.
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Check the details.
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If everything matches, click the OK button.
- Select the Merge tickbox.
- Click the OK button.
The details of the second record are displayed on the right.
The Merge Patients Warning window opens, with any mismatched details highlighted in red.
The Merge Patients? window opens.
Warning:
Do not link to a hospital record until there is only one radiology record, or you have checked which is the primary record.
If there is more than one radiology record for the same patient, they must be merged by an administrator (to the primary record, usually indicated by the lowest Cris number, though it is up to the Trust to decide as sometimes the more recent record has more activity).
Note:
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Once merged, all events will be displayed on the primary Cris record.
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The merged record will be greyed out. It is not deleted.
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Cris will send a merge message via HL7 to PACS.
Tip:
Records which have been flagged as duplicates can be found via the Cris Log.
Duplicate records, other hospitals
If you find more than one radiology record for a patient and one or more do not have a hospital number at your own hospital, the owner of the most recent record should unmerge.
System Administration: Patient Records
Opening and saving a hospital (PAS / HIS / EPR) record in Cris creates a radiology record.
Every radiology (Cris) record must be linked to a hospital (PAS / HIS / EPR) record.
Unlink records when a hospital (PAS / HIS / EPR) record and radiology (Cris) record have been linked in error, before events have been added.
There should only be one radiology record for a patient in a Cris system (i.e. a group / consortium), and that record should be used by all sites in the group. Merging joins two radiology records from different hospitals.
Records merged in error may have events and images which need to be re-assigned to the correct patient.
When PAS is down, Cris will not be able to send or receive any demographic or event information.
