Functional characteristics
Accessible: Access is dependent upon the establishment of a network infrastructure, the trusted authority and policies and procedures that support the system.
Assignable: Assignment of the Sample UHID or EUHID, regardless of time or place of request, depends on the establishment and functions of a network infrastructure, the trusted authority, and the implementation of policies and procedures that support the system. It will also depend on the mechanism to request a Sample UHID.
Identifiable: This will depend on the identification information that the trusted authority links to the Sample UHID.
Verifiable: The Sample UHID includes a six (6) digit check-digit for verification.
Mergeable: The internal data structure of the Sample UHID does not directly support merging duplicate or redundant identifiers. They can be linked at the trusted authority.
Splittable: There is no inherent support for splitting the Sample UHID. New IDs can be issued for future use. Splitting for retroactive information must be handled by the trusted authority.
Patient confidentiality and access security
Content Free: The Sample UHID is free of information about the individual.
Controllable: This depends on the policies and methods that will be adopted by the trusted authority.
Healthcare Focused: The Sample UHID is recommended solely for the purpose of healthcare application.
Secure: The Sample UHID includes an EUHID which offers mechanism for secure operation through the use of encryption and decryption processes. These capabilities depend on the policies and procedures that will be implemented by the trusted authority.
Dissidentifiable: EUHID supports multiple encryption schemes offering multiple EUHIDs to prevent revealing the identification of the individual.
Public: The EUHID's encryption scheme is intended to hide the identity of individual when linking information. However, public disclosure of a patient identifier without any risk to the privacy and confidentiality of patient information depends on appropriate access security and privacy legislation, similar to other identifiers.
Design characteristics
The ASTM guide and the proposed Sample UHID do not address the implementation issues and infrastructure requirements.
Unique: The trusted authority will be responsible for the uniqueness of the Sample UHID.
Repository-based: The Sample UHID can be stored in a repository.
Atomic: The Sample UHID consists of a sixteen (16) digit sequential identifier, a one (1) character delimiter, a six (6) digit check-digit and a six (6) digit encryption scheme. It can function as a single compound data element.
Concise: The Sample UHID is not concise. It is a 29-character length identifier.
Unambiguous: The Sample UHID is unambiguous. It uses numeric characters and a period as a delimiter.
Permanent: The Sample UHID has sufficient capacity to prevent reuse of identifiers.
Centrally governed: This policy issue is not addressed. The Sample UHID requires central administration and is dependent on the establishment and functions of a trusted authority.
Networked: The Sample UHID can be operated on a computer network. It requires establishment of the necessary network and technology infrastructure.
Longevity: The Sample UHID can support patient identification for a foreseeable future.
Retroactive: Has the capacity for retroactive assignment of the Sample UHID to every person in the United States
Universal: Can support patient identification for the entire world population
Incremental Implementation: The Sample UHID can be implemented on an incremental basis. With the development and use of appropriate procedures and establishment of the necessary bidirectional mapping, both the Sample UHID and existing patient identifiers can co-exist during the time of transition.
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