In plain English
It is the specific number a healthcare organization uses to tell one person's medical file from another. The number is unique within that organization and identifies that patient's record.
In context
On the medical-record request form, it labels the field for the unique number the healthcare organization assigned to the patient's medical record.
- Situation
- Managing records, consent forms, proxies, privacy, and information release
- What it communicates
- labels the patient identifier field on the medical-record request form.
Meaning limits
The term by itself does not establish that the same patient has the same number at different healthcare organizations.
Examples
“The child had one MRN at the county hospital and a different one at the university clinic.”
“On the records request form, she left MRN blank because the discharge letter did not include it.”