Have seen a few cases in the last few months where someone contacts their GP for a prescription or an appointment only to be told that they have been deregistered as the Practice had been told they had moved.
It has happened twice in the last 12 months to the same person.
It is happening because staff are checking name and date of birth but not addresses, leading to real problems for the patient.
Data quality or lack of data quality can be devastating.
The urban myth is that someone had to take a HIV test to prove that entries on their medical record was not about them.
In a health environment, removing inaccurate data from someone medical record is not that easy and can have long term consequences.
Data quality as a subject is not “sexy” and the key rule is slow down – take a couple of extra seconds and do not assume – or as they say “assume can make an ass out of u and me.