The number becomes the primary index, but patients themselves may have no idea of their number, and name remains an essential checking element. Intrinsically identifiable records and abstracts are widely used in clinical research. The name facilitates filing and retrieval, proper flow of new information into the record, cross-referencing of physically disparate records, and most importantly connection of the record to the individual whom it concerns. Records with name, address, and other personal identifiers permit the correct linkage of follow-up data to the original file, and prevents multiple reports of a single adverse event from appearing in regulatory agency files as if they referred to many events. Name-identified records are also central outside of clinical research settings.
Phonetic codes are often the basis of record-linkage schemes.
In the UK much prescription-linkage data is keyed to names of patients and of their physicians. In the United States, name is an important element in searches of the National Death Index and the Social Security Administration s Death Master Files. In industrial health studies, the almost invariable starting point for creating a cohort is a personnel roster of names. Not much different from name-identified records are those in which name identification can be derived by reference to publicly available lists. In the United States, the Social Security number is a unique identifier.