Duplicate medical records: a survey of Twin Cities healthcare organizations.

Duplicate medical records occur when a single patient is associated with more than one medical record number. This causes a dangerous and expensive issue for hospitals and health information technology. A survey was constructed to gather qualitative information from Twin Cities healthcare organizations. The goal was to determine baseline information regarding the recognition of the problems surrounding duplicate medical record creation and organizational strategies for resolutions. The survey demonstrated that all organizations acknowledged the importance and patient safety issue regarding the creation of duplicates but the strategies and solutions are varied. As defined in the Minnesota Alliance for Patient Safety5, the ultimate goal of this survey was to favorably impact patient safety. The deidentified results were disseminated to all participating organizations along with recommendations for system improvements in order to raise awareness of the issue and promote patient safety.