Data Quality: What To Do When a Duplicate Client Record Is Found?

Duplicate client records occur when a user creates a new record for a client that is already active in HMIS. Some reasons for the creation of duplicate records are:

• The spelling of the client's name is different between the record in HMIS and the information the intake person has been provided so the current record in HMIS cannot be found.
• A client has an unshared record in HMIS (such as a youth in a YHDP project), but the client has opted to share their information as collected by another organization.
• On Monday, August 27, 2018, Alaska HMIS (Homeless Management Information System) users started creating client records that could be shared state-wide. Up until that point, client records were most often only available to the organization who created the record for data entry. Because of this, an end user may find a duplicate client when searching for a client record, they created.

Eligibility for Merging Client Records

There are three main components of Personally Identifying Information (PII) in a client record. At minimum, two out of the three must be an exact match to make them eligible to be merged. The third component cannot glaringly contradict the other. The Universal Data Elements (UDEs) that make up PII for merge requests:

• 3.01 Name (first and last)
• 3.02 SSN
• 3.03 Date of Birth
• Client record ID has a 6-digit record ID over 500000

The Help Desk will only merge records shared records with a 6-digit record ID over 500000. If you do find client records that meet the requirements to be considered for a merge, please submit a merge request to the AKHMIS Help Desk.

What to do when a duplicate client record is found

The user can do one of the following, depending on what information is available:

• The user can contact the AKHMIS Help Desk to request a merge of two or more records. Before contacting the Help Desk, please confirm that all the client records are eligible to be merged!

OR

• If the records do not meet the requirements to be considered for a merge, but the user believes they are the same person, please reach out to the other organization/provider that created the client record to resolve discrepancies prior to submitting a merge request. Per the HMIS Data Standards Manual,

When enrolling a client who already has a record in HMIS, verify that DOB (Date of Birth), SSN (Social Security Number), Race and Ethnicity is complete and accurate and correct it, if it is not.

When more than one client record is being maintained for the same client, the duplicates do not inhibit data entry, they will not impact federal reporting, nor is there a HUD (Housing & Urban Development) mandate to de-duplicate the system. However, both records will need to be reviewed to understand the complete history of the person experiencing homelessness.

OR

• If the record is not eligible to be merged, continue to use the client record that the user organization/provider created. If the data entered is accurate and the organization/provider is consistently using the same client record, there is no harm done. But there are benefits to having fewer duplicate records in the system.