Creation of a Unique Patient Identifier Throughout Their Care Journey in Burkina Faso: A Standardized Process

Abstract

This article describes a process for generating a unique and secure identifier for patients in healthcare institutions, aimed at improving the management of medical data while adhering to security and privacy standards. This process employs data normalization techniques and secure hashing algorithms such as SHA-256, in compliance with international standards such as HL7 for demographic coding and ISO 8601 for dates. The methodology includes key steps: validation of input data, normalization and concatenation of personal information, and application of cryptographic hashes with a random salt. These steps ensure the integrity, authenticity, and compatibility of the identifier with healthcare data management systems. This approach also safeguards patient privacy, preventing tampering and duplication. As such, the process addresses the challenges of security, efficiency, and data standardization in modern healthcare systems, ensuring accurate, unique, and tamper-proof patient identification.